Drivers in Florida who enjoy rolling down their windows and blasting their favorite music may now need to think twice if they want to avoid a fine as the new sound law takes effect.
Beginning Friday July 1st, Florida statue 316.3045 prohibits loud music that’s plainly audible within 25 feet. This law will allow law enforcement officers to give tickets to drivers playing music too loudly in their cars. The law will also allow officers to ticket drivers for playing music too loudly in areas around churches, schools, or hospitals.
Any sounds that a person can detect using their normal hearing are considered to be plainly audible, according to rules from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The new law’s intention is protecting residents and businesses from a public nuisance.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office said it plans to have deputies “write warnings and provide education on the law for approximately the first 30 days as a first step prior to enforcement,” according to Codd.
The fine for an infraction, which isn’t considered a moving violation, could be as much as $115.
The measure was part of a wider bill proposed during this year’s legislative session aimed at cracking down on unsanctioned pop-up parties that have been seen in Daytona Beach and elsewhere. Critics say such gatherings draw massive, noisy crowds that inundate roads with traffic.
The sound law statute has raised alarms among critics, who say they worry about how police will decide when to enforce it and fear it gives law enforcement a pretext to pull over drivers for unrelated reasons, including to conduct searches.
Florida had a similar law in the past, but the state Supreme Court struck it down in 2012 after a St. Petersburg lawyer challenged it as unconstitutional for prohibiting certain forms of speech while permitting others. That law had allowed an exemption for commercial and political advertising from vehicles. Lawmakers changed the statute this year to remove that exemption.
