‘Jake brakes' now banned on Fanning Bridge

FLETCHER — Starting this week, residents along Fanning Bridge Road may get some peace after town workers erected signs to alert truckers not to use window-rattling “jake brakes” except under emergency situations.

Fletcher Town Council members unanimously passed an ordinance last month banning the use of compression brakes, or “jake brakes,” on Fanning Bridge, after neighbors along the road complained the hammering noise was keeping them up and shaking their homes.

On Tuesday, employees from Fletcher's Public Works Department put up signs at both ends of Fanning Bridge to inform truckers of the new law. The ordinance bans any driver from engaging or activating an “engine compression brake” except for “emergency situations for the purpose of avoiding a collision with another object, person or vehicle.”

Engine compression brakes are primarily used by diesel drivers to slow their trucks without using their wheel brakes. The devices convert an internal combustion engine into an air compressor, slowing momentum. But they are rarely necessary at speeds over 40 miles per hour and the posted speed on Fanning Bridge in Fletcher is 35 mph.

Fletcher councilmen met with the N.C. Department of Transportation in January to brainstorm ways to address the overuse of compression brakes on Fanning Bridge. Town Manager Mark Biberdorf researched other towns' ordinances and found several that banned the use of compression brakes within their limits or on certain streets.

Truckers who violate the ban can be charged with a class 3 misdemeanor, which can bring a maximum fine of $200.