Waynesville, MO Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 325.070 sits in Chapter 325, Miscellaneous Driving Rules, inside Title III of the Waynesville Municipal Code, the same chapter that regulates texting behind the wheel, careless driving and seat belts. The rule has two parts: the city bans muffler cutouts outright, and it separately bans any motor vehicle from being driven in a condition that produces excessive or unnecessary noise from its machinery, motor, signaling device or an improperly loaded cargo. Rather than setting a decibel limit, the ordinance sets a performance standard: every motor vehicle operated in the city must be fitted with a properly attached muffler of a capacity and construction that quiets exhaust noise as completely as is done in a modern gas-engine passenger vehicle.

Where a vehicle has a cutout or opening in the exhaust pipe between the motor and the muffler, that opening must be completely closed and disconnected from its operating lever so it cannot open automatically or be opened while the vehicle is moving. The Waynesville Police Department enforces the section on the street, and the ordinance traces back to Ord. No. 178, one of the city's older traffic ordinances still in force. Because § 325.070 does not set its own fine amount, a conviction falls under the Municipal Code's general penalty clause, § 100.020, which directs the Municipal Court to apply the current Uniform Fine Schedule for Municipal Offenses plus court costs rather than a fixed dollar figure printed in the noise section itself.

St. Robert and Fort Leonard Wood, which sit next to Waynesville along the same stretch of Route 66 and I-44, enforce their own separate vehicle codes, so a cutout or loud exhaust legal at the base gate is not automatically legal once the vehicle crosses into Waynesville.