New Hampshire—Judge Rules Towns Can't Make Own Motorcycle Noise Rules

By Elizabeth Dinan
December 20, 2011 11:42 AM
BRENTWOOD — New Hampshire cities and towns cannot impose limits on motorcycle noise that are stricter than what state law allows, a Rockingham County judge has ruled.
       “If each town in New Hampshire had the authority to enact different noise emission ordinances, the state would be subject to a checkerboard pattern of laws,” ruled Superior Court Judge Kenneth McHugh. “For example, a motorcyclist who complies with the state noise emission limit could be precluded from driving through a town because that town enacted a lower noise emission limit than the state.”
       The judge's decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by Seacoast Motorcycles Inc., owner of the Seacoast Harley Davidson dealership at 17 Lafayette Road in North Hampton. Seacoast filed suit against the Town of North Hampton, successfully arguing that the town did not have legal authority to adopt its own motorcycle noise ordinance.


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