Youngstown, OH Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Youngstown Codified Ordinances Section 337.20 requires that every motor vehicle and motorcycle with an internal combustion engine be equipped at all times with a muffler in good working order and constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and it bars anyone from using a muffler cutout, by-pass or similar device on a vehicle on a highway; motorcycle mufflers must also carry baffle plates. The same section separately bars owning, operating or possessing a vehicle rigged to produce excessive smoke or gas, or set up to let oil or chemicals flow onto the exhaust pipe or muffler so as to emit smoke or annoying gases beyond ordinary combustion exhaust.

Enforcement runs through the Youngstown Police Department under the Traffic Code. A related provision, Section 331.36, separately bars unnecessarily racing a motor or accelerating a vehicle, outside an emergency, in a manner that makes the exhaust emit a loud cracking or chattering noise, or that makes the tires squeal or leave marks, commonly called 'peeling.' Both sections carry the same tiered penalty structure: a minor misdemeanor on a first offense, rising to a fourth-degree misdemeanor on a second offense within one year, and a third-degree misdemeanor on any further offense within that year.

Because the ordinance sets no decibel meter standard, officers cite based on the equipment condition itself (no muffler, a cutout device, or smoke/gas emission) or the driving conduct (racing, peeling) rather than a measured sound level.