Florida Can Now Fine You $115 for Playing Loud Music In Your Car
The new law would make it a fineable offense if your music can be heard 25 feet away or farther.
Florida police can now ticket drivers whose music is audible outside their cars, thanks to a new law on July 1.
According to NBC Miami, vehicles with "plainly audible" stereos, instruments, or other devices that can be heard from 25 feet away or farther can be ticketed. The law also allows drivers to be ticketed if they play music "louder than necessary" outside churches, hospitals, or schools. Violators reportedly will be hit with fines of up to $115.
Naturally, the ordnance does not apply to horns, emergency vehicles, commercial vehicles that generate noise as part of business operations (like ice cream trucks), or vehicles serving dedicated political purposes. At least one county sheriff's department in Broward County said its deputies would only issue warnings for the first month to give the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles time to legally define "plainly audible" and establish standards for how sound will be measured for enforcement. The law also covers loud exhausts, though laws against such are already on the books.
"We look for the more egregious violations that you can pretty much hear coming from a block away," said Police Captain Tim McCarthy to NBC Miami. "So it is easy for us to make notations on the citations that the sound was heard from several car lengths away, maybe even a half a block.”
People have criticized the law on Facebook, with some describing it as a "revenue device." Another commenter wrote, "if the punishment is just a fine, then it is only a crime if you are poor." Caribbean National Weekly also reports critics have voiced concerns over inconsistent enforcement.
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