Acting Gov. Nicholas Scutari signed legislation Monday creating new penalties for vehicles playing loud music, an effort to stop so-called boom parties that have kept some New Jersey residents awake late into the night.

Under the new law, owners of vehicles that play music that can be plainly heard from 50 feet away could face escalating fines and, eventually, points on their license.

“It’s no secret that ‘boom car’ parties have negatively affected the quality of life in towns up and down the Delaware River for years,” Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington), one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement. “Residents, even those miles away from the Delaware River, can feel the bass vibrating their homes, which torturously keeps them awake all night long.”

Violators will face fines of between $250 and $500 on their first offense, rising to between $500 and $750 on their second.

The third offense carries fines of between $750 and $1,000 and adds two motor vehicle points to the violator’s license.

“The noise from these boom parties can be an assault on the quality of life in residential communities at all hours of the day and night,” Scutari said in a statement. “This law sets reasonable standards that allow local enforcement officials to limit the volume of music emanating from motor vehicles.”

Assemblyman Bill Spearman (D-Camden), the bill’s prime sponsor, in January said mayors in Camden, Pennsauken, and Delran, among others, had urged lawmakers to act. Philadelphia enacted a similar ordinance to combat boom parties on its side of the Delaware last June.

Scutari signed four other bills and one joint resolution on Monday. Among those is legislation that declares cranberry juice is New Jersey’s state juice and makes vehicle owners retroactively liable for towing and storage fees in certain circumstances.

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