The board of supervisors in a county that sits in the Iowa Great Lakes region has approved a noise ordinance for vehicles traveling in unincorporated areas of the county.
Assistant Dickinson County Attorney Lonnie Saunders says the policy is patterned after vehicle noise ordinances in other cities and counties.
“It’s not going to fix the problem. It might tamp the problem down some,” he says. “We’re going to put up some signs…and that’ll help some. Enforcement will help some, but is it going to get rid of the problem totally? Probably not.”
Saunders says officials have fielded “justified complaints” about vehicle noise. Dickinson County has over 17,000 permanent residents, but the summertime population in the Great Lakes region can swell to 120-thousand on any given weekend.
The Dickinson County noise ordinance forbids engine and muffler noise above 88 decibels for semis and large trucks and 80 decibels is the limit for other vehicles.
“And so if there is a complaint and if officers are able to chase the perpetrators down, they would measure the sound level 25 feet from the source,” Saunders says.
Some states have laws on vehicle noise, with a few specifically restricting motorcycle noise, but there’s no statewide noise limitation for vehicles in Iowa.
(By Corey Harguth, KICD, Spencer)