Jake Brakes

What are "jake brakes"? They're the engine-retardant brakes that are a safety tool for drivers of heavy trucks and, because of their noise, an aggravation for people living near truck routes.

The real problem is the use of jake brakes in the middle of the night, when they can jolt people awake.

The Bi-Hi as approaches Halifax bordering on School Avenue.

The new sign

The Bicentennial Highway runs through the middle of my constituency of Halifax Fairview. I have heard complaints from people living on School Avenue, Melrose Avenue, Sunnybrae Avenue and Central Avenue in Fairview, on Abbott Drive, and as far away as the Fairmount subdivision.

I have also heard concerns from residents living near Northwest Arm Drive.

In Nova Scotia, jake brakes are illegal in a 50 km/h zone. The section of the BiHi that runs past Fairview is a 70 km/h zone, so the use of jake brakes is not illegal in this zone. However, the BiHi becomes a 50 km/h zone just before it passes over Joseph Howe Drive, so the use of jake brakes in the Abbott/Ralston/Pennington/Mailing/Samuel Walker area is illegal.

I have toured the area with safety representatives of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association. They believe a voluntary nighttime ban is feasible. I have also raised the issue with officials of the NS Department of Transportation. They're sympathetic, but told me they have no statutory authority to impose any restrictions.

On November 27, 2002, I introduced a bill in the Legislature that would give the Department of Transportation the authority to ban jake brakes in any place the Department thought appropriate. (Click here to see the news release.) The bill did not pass in the fall 2002 sitting of the Legislature. I re-introduced the bill on April 22, 2003, and have discussed with the Minister of Transportation whether he is interested in supporting it (the bill cannot pass without government support). He agreed to discuss it with departmental officials. However, an election intervened, and the bill died along with everything else on the Order Paper.

I introduced the bill for a third time on October 21, 2003, and again undertook discussions with the Minister of Transportation. Again the Minister expressed an interest, and indicated that the Department of Transportation would consider whether the jake brakes issue can be dealt with in the Spring 2004 sitting of the Legislature.

Early in the Spring 2004 sitting of the Legislature, the Minister indicated to me that the Department of Transportation will ban jake brakes on the School Avenue stretch of the Bicentennial Highway. The details remain to be worked out, but the commitment is there. This will be a pilot project to determine if the same kind of jake brake restrictions can be placed on other sections of provincial highway.

On September 29, 2004, I was given a progress report by Departmental staff. The Department has completed five days of noise measurement, and about five hours of truck count data. In late November 2004, "No Engine Braking" signs were erected. This is a voluntary restriction, not "the law", but so far they seem to be working.

What can you do? If you hear and see a truck using jake brakes at night, contact the trucking company and let them know you're not happy. Or call me with the information, and I'll contact the company. Different companies take different attitudes. Some have been very concerned, and have immediately instructed their drivers to stop using their jake brakes. Other companies seem indifferent to the effect their trucks have on our neighbourhoods.