Vermilion Parish, LA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 26-68 of the Vermilion Parish Code opens with the words "Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 26-65 and 26-67," which means its vehicle rules apply even where the parish noise article would otherwise grant an exception. Subsection (3) covers refrigerated trucks: no commercial truck with a refrigeration unit may be operated within 250 feet of any residential property between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, or between 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends. The bar is on the operation of the unit near homes, so a driver who idles a reefer trailer in a lot across from a subdivision at night is inside the rule.

Subsection (5) covers alarms. An exterior burglar alarm or fire alarm on a building or a motor vehicle must be wired so that it stops after initial activation within five minutes if the sound is continuous, and within ten minutes if the sound is intermittent. Subsection (5) adds that the Table I limits in section 26-65 apply at all times, so an alarm that stops on schedule can still be measured against the parish's dB(A) limits while it runs.

One exception matters to drivers. Section 26-67(9) exempts sound from the locomotion of properly muffled motor vehicles on a public right-of-way, and defines "properly muffled" as the use of a device to minimize the emission of sound rather than maximize it. Section 26-63 defines a muffler as a properly functioning sound dissipative device for abating the sound of escaping gases. The article applies only to the unincorporated area of the parish, under sections 26-63 and 26-64, so Abbeville, Kaplan, Erath, Gueydan, Delcambre and Maurice enforce their own vehicle noise rules.