Noise or No Safety

Towns all across America are prohibiting the use of Jake Brakes .They say that they are just making too much unnecessary noise. The Jake brake is an add-on engine brake for diesel engines. Big semi trailers,the 18 wheel trucks that move everything we use, can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds. Stopping them or slowing them down results in a great deal of wear and tear on the brakes, which have to be replaced frequently. The Jake brake, as an engine system, causes no wear and tear and can help slow the truck before the wheel brakes need to be applied. Its primary use is on long downhill grades where the wheel brakes would otherwise have to be frequently pumped to keep the truck from gaining dangerous speed. There are some drivers that use the Jake Brake when it is not necessary.



Some information on the Jacobs Engine Brakes. An engine brake is a braking system used primarily on semi-trucks or other large vehicles that modifies engine valve operation to use engine compression to slow the vehicle. They are also known as compression release engine brakes.

The driver controls the engine brake by a on/off switch and, sometimes, a multi-position switch that controls the number of cylinders which the brake is active on. When the compression release engine brake is turned on, it will activate when the driver releases the accelerator. There are also switches on the clutch and accelerator pedals that will deactivate the compression brake when the clutch is disengaged or the accelerator is pressed.

Some engine brakes may make a loud chattering or machine gun noise while being used, which has led many communities to ban them. There are signs on the side of some freeway off ramps, or at municipal boundaries, that will say "No Jake braking", "Engine brakes restricted".

Banning the use of Jake Brakes just because of noise does not make sense to me. I would rather hear noise and know that it is safer. If you are going to ban these because of noise then what about the younger people driving around with the stereos and bass turned up so loud that it causes the windows in your house to vibrate when they drive by.How come we do not see signs that ban these?

Just something for everyone to think about.