Cayman’s police chief has thrown his weight behind a bid to stamp out noise nuisance for overuse of ‘jake brakes’ – engine brakes fitted to diesel trucks.
Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton said he had ordered officers to show no mercy to offenders after public complaints about the loud machine-gun-style rattle of the special brakes.
Walton told Government’s Radio Cayman, “I have literally issued an instruction no truck driver will get a break using jake brakes.
“Prosecute them and let them go to court and justify why they are using jake brakes.”
Walton warned that nuisance use of engine brakes, originally designed as an emergency back-up to traditional brakes, was a strict liability offence – one where only a guilty act has to be established, irrespective of intent.
He added, “That’s the position that I take. No more asking people. It’s prosecute, prosecute, prosecute until they get the message.
“And my message hit them hard where it hurts; in the pockets.”
He was speaking last week after police signalled they would crack down on the problem.
Environmental health backs crackdown
The Department of Environmental Health backed the police effort to curb the use of jake brakes, especially in eastern areas.
A spokeswoman said, “The DEH recognises that excessive noise can negatively impact the quality of life of residents and remains committed to addressing noise issues that fall within its remit.
“Under the Public Health Act, noise may be investigated where it constitutes a statutory nuisance.”
The spokeswoman explained that moving-vehicle offences were “generally more appropriately undertaken” by police, which had the authority to deal with traffic offences and that environmental health officials had not had any complaints about the brakes.
But she added, “The DEH supports efforts to reduce unnecessary noise in communities and will continue to work with partner agencies where appropriate to help protect public health and wellbeing.”
“Police will be cracking down on offenders, particularly in the eastern districts.”
It added, “We are asking all truck drivers to do their part in helping us to ensure the safety and peace of our communities.”
Designed for emergencies
Jake brakes, named after US engineering firm the Jacobs Manufacturing Company, which pioneered them, were designed to turn diesel engines into auxiliary brakes through a compression release engine system, introduced in 1961.
The brakes, however, are sometimes used to limit wear and tear on conventional high-pressure air brakes common on trucks, but they produce a loud noise, likened to machine-gun fire or a jackhammer drill.
Their use has been banned in many urban areas in the US and elsewhere because of noise pollution, with heavy fines imposed on offenders.
Compression release engine brakes work by opening engine cylinder exhaust valves just before the compression stroke ends, which releases compressed gas trapped in the cylinders.
Venting the gas releases a large amount of energy, which slows the truck down.
Jake brakes were invented by Clessie Cummins, the founder of Cummins, now a global company famed for its diesel engines, after he retired.
He had never forgotten almost losing his life in 1931 after a diesel truck he was driving lost its brakes as he descended the steep Cajon Pass in California, which was crossed by a main railway line near the bottom.
Cummins was unable to slow down and his truck avoided smashing into a passing freight train’s last wagon by inches and, after he retired in 1955, he created a way to use the engine as a back-up braking system in emergencies.
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