Florida Statutes


316.3048 Operation of radios or other mechanical soundmaking devices or instruments in vehicles; exemptions.--

  1. It is unlawful for any person operating or occupying a motor vehicle on a street or highway to operate or amplify the sound produced by a radio, tape player, or other mechanical soundmaking device or instrument from within the motor vehicle so that the sound is:
    1. Plainly audible at a distance of 100 feet or more from the motor vehicle; or
    2. Louder than necessary for the convenient hearing by persons inside the vehicle in areas adjoining churches, schools, or hospitals.
  2. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any law enforcement motor vehicle equipped with any communication device necessary in the performance of law enforcement duties or to any emergency vehicle equipped with any communication device necessary in the performance of any emergency procedures.
  3. The provisions of this section do not apply to motor vehicles for business or political purposes, which in the normal course of conducting such business use soundmaking devices. The provisions of this subsection shall not be deemed to prevent local authorities, with respect to streets and highways under their jurisdiction and within the reasonable exercise of the police power, from regulating the time and manner in which such business may be operated.
  4. The provisions of this section do not apply to the noise made by a horn or other warning device required or permitted by s. 316.271. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall promulgate rules defining 'plainly audible' and establish standards regarding how sound should be measured by law enforcement personnel who enforce the provisions of this section.


327.65 Muffling Devices [for boats]

  1. The exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on any vessel operated on the waters of this state shall be effectively muffled by equipment so constructed and used as to muffle the noise of the exhaust in a reasonable manner. The use of cutouts is prohibited, except for vessels competing in a regatta or official boat race, and for such vessels while on trial runs.
  2. Any county wishing to impose additional noise pollution and exhaust regulations on vessels may, pursuant to a s. 327.60(1) adopt by county ordinance the following regulations:
    1. No person shall operate or give permission for the operation of any vessel on the waters of any county or on a specified portion of the waters of any county, including the Florida Intracoastal Waterway, which has adopted the provisions of this section in such a manner as to exceed the following sound levels at a distance of 50 feet from the vessel: for all vessels, a maximum sound level of 90 dB A.
    2. Any person who refuses to submit to a sound level test when requested to do so by a law enforcement officer is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
  3. The following words and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in this subsection.
    1. "dB A" means the composite abbreviation for the A-weighted sound level and the unit of sound level, the decibel.
    2. "Sound level" means the A-weighted sound pressure level measured with fast response using an instrument complying with the specification for sound level meters of the American National Standards Institute, Inc., or its successor bodies, except that only a weighting and fast dynamic response need be provided.

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