Myrtle Beach City Council members voted on an amendment to the noise ordinance for the first time Tuesday.
Before the meeting, city council members listened to a variety of vehicles; a Harley Davidson, a police motorcycle, a fire engine, a dump truck, and an unmarked police car, to see how they measured on the decibel scale.
The test was helpful to councilwoman Susan Grissom Means.
"It helped know difference between 85 and 92 reading. It's difficult to comprehend that when you're sitting in a room talking to you about numbers and you have no idea how that correlates to the sound itself," said Means.
The original noise ordinance prohibits the operation of vehicles that measure at more than 87 decibels when the engine is idle.
The amendment that passed first reading Tuesday, changes that to 89 decibels.
There's still another reading to go.
