Los Angeles County, CA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Prohibited hours on public highways
- 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the following day
- Sunday restriction
- No sound vehicle operation on public highways on any Sunday
- Buffer zones
- 300 feet from hospitals, schools, and churches: prohibited at all times
- Peddler musical apparatus hours
- 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. only
- Ice cream truck speaker hours
- No external speakers 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. (§ 7.62.072)
- Parked sound vehicles
- No operating sound equipment while parked on any public highway, at any time
Summary
Sound vehicles (trucks or other vehicles equipped with loudspeakers or sound-amplifying devices for advertising) in unincorporated LA County cannot operate on public highways between 4:30 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., on any Sunday, or within 300 feet of a hospital, school, or church at any time.
7.78.190 - Sound vehicles—Times and locations when operation prohibited. A person shall not drive, operate or propel any sound vehicle with the sound-making device, sound-amplifying device, loudspeaker thereof, or any part thereof, in operation: A. Within 300 feet of any hospital, school, church or other place of religious worship; B. Upon any public highway or in the air between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. of the following day; C. Upon any public highway or in the air on any Sunday. 7.78.030(A): The incidental sounding between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. of any day of a musical sound apparatus, having a sound level not to exceed 20 decibels...in connection with the ordinary use and operation of a tradesman's, peddler's, huckster's or hawker's cart or vehicle does not bring such cart or vehicle within the definition of 'sound vehicle.' A person shall not sound such musical apparatus or horn or bell between 9:00 p.m. of any day and 9:00 a.m. of the following day.
Full Breakdown
A 'sound vehicle' includes any vehicle carrying a loudspeaker or sound-amplifying device used for advertising or addressing the public. Peddler carts and food trucks may use musical apparatus only between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Ice cream trucks and food peddlers are separately prohibited from operating external speakers between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. (Section 7.62.072). Parking a sound vehicle on a public highway with its sound equipment operating is prohibited at all times, regardless of hour.
Violations & Fines
Violations subject to business license enforcement including license suspension or revocation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an ice cream truck play music at 8:30 p.m.?
Can an advertising sound truck operate on a Sunday morning at 10 a.m.?
Can a sound truck park near a school and play announcements?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Los Angeles County
California rules heatmap·Compare Los Angeles County to another location·View the California noise ordinances overview
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