Engine compression brakes are the target of proposed legislation in several areas.

The brakes, often called "Jake Brakes" after the popular and pioneering brand, make a deep staccato "rapping" sound if not properly muffled. Many drivers like the sound. Many communities do not.
The Omaha (Neb.) City Council is considering a proposal that would forbid the use of the brakes where the slope is less than 5 degrees. That would preclude their use on Interstates 80, 480 and 680 in Omaha, although some ramps and loops are steeper. Legislation that passed in the state Legislature last year allows towns and cities to regulate the use of engine brakes on Interstates.
Nance Harris of the Nebraska Trucking Assn. told the City Council that the association would rather see an ordinance addressing defective engine-brake mufflers, rather than prohibiting the safety device.
Pewaukee, Wis., is the latest community in that state to look at banning engine brakes. Menomonee Falls and several other cities in the state have ordinances prohibiting drivers from using the brakes, and a Pewaukee alderman wants to add his city, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. However, the paper notes, although Menomonee Falls passed its ordinance almost a year ago, the village hasn't written and citation s yet because it hasn't posted warning signs. So far all they've done are give verbal warnings.
Although many communities post signs saying "No Jake Brakes," Jacobs Vehicle Co., which owns the brand Jake Brake, has been contacting officials and getting them to post signs with the more correct generic term, "engine brake." The company is even more concerned, however, about the fact that communities are banning them at all.
"We don't believe communities should have the right to ban a legal product," Frank Stawski, attorney for Jacobs, told the Journal Sentinel. "It's almost as ludicrous as saying if a town doesn't like red trucks they should ban red trucks."
Some lawmakers are on the brakes' side. In Mars, Pa., City Council members last week voted not to ban the use of engine brakes on trucks, saying they are important safety equipment. And in South Dakota, a bill is awaiting the governor's signature that would bar local governments from prohibiting engine brakes. Local governments will, however, be able to prohibit engine brakes that are not properly muffled.

For more on this topic, read RoadStar Editor Steve Sturgess' April 1999 editorial, "Rapper's Delight."