Upper Darby, PA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Township Code § 373-8 sets Table II, the maximum permissible motor vehicle noise level for any vehicle on a public right-of-way. The limits scale by vehicle class and posted speed limit: a federally registered interstate motor carrier is capped at 86 dB(A) at 35 mph or less and 90 dB(A) above 35 mph; any other vehicle (or combination) rated 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or more is capped at 92 dB(A)/96 dB(A) for the same speed brackets; motorcycles are capped at 88 dB(A)/92 dB(A); and any other motor vehicle, including ordinary passenger cars, is capped at 82 dB(A) at 35 mph or less and 88 dB(A) above 35 mph.

Section 373-8 applies to every motor vehicle on a public right-of-way, publicly or privately owned, so long as it is duly licensed, which covers loud aftermarket exhausts, modified mufflers and blasting car stereos alike whenever the measured level exceeds the class limit. Section 373-9 fixes the measurement protocol: a standard height of 4 feet and a standard horizontal distance of 50 feet from the center line of the monitored travel lane, with an allowance to shorten the distance to 25 feet if 50 feet is not feasible, in which case the Table II values are increased by six dBA to compensate.

Section 373-10 extends the identical Table I limits (not Table II) to any motorized vehicle operated off a public right-of-way, measured at the property line instead, and separately bars recreational motorized vehicles from operating in public parks altogether.