Are the drivers of these masive trucks carring large and very heavy logs taught in their Commerical Vehicle Driving School how important it is ( or should be ) that they obey the road signs perticulary in Residental areas . Judging by what I see in my small community sometimes plagued by these noisy vehicles I think not .
There are very clear signs stating 50 km , No Engine Braking or Unnecessary Noise Strictly Enforced but yet the noise and extreme speeding continues .
Vehicles such as these that carry heavy loads and cannot possibly stop in a hurry should by no means be exceding the speed limits ( nor should anyone for that matter ) in fact their speed limits should be lower .
The residents of my community do not feel it is safe to walk on the side of the road , I have witnessed a person jump down into the ditch when they heard a vehicle coming from behind ( pretty sad ) Do these drivers have some special licence that says they are above the Law .
I would first like to point out that not all commercial drivers have to attend a driving school in order to obtain a class 1 license, they can get a class 1 learners license and train with any class 1 license holder. It could well be a friend or family member training these drivers, the same as with a class 5 license.
They of course have to pass a drivers road exam in order to obtain a full class 1 and drive solo, so they have to know and follow the laws or fail, same as class 5 drivers. Once they have their class 1 license as you claim, many do ignore the laws same as many drivers, it is very sad & dangerous as the laws are for everyone's safety and being a semi with heavier weights of course they should indeed drive like professionals, unfortunately many don't. Following the speed limit is perfectly legal in ideal conditions, that being said a true professional driver will drive slower than the posted limit in residential areas depending on surroundings and the situation at that time.And no their license is not special that they can break the law.
Logging trucks also have to follow the same weight restrictions as all other semi's, so if they are properly loaded they are no heavier than all other fully loaded semi's for the trailer they are towing, and every logging truck I have seen has their own scales, so being overweight is not likely unless the driver wants to chance big overweight fines.
As far as the noise I will assume you mean the engine brakes (Jake Brakes), if you live at the bottom of a steep hill I doubt anything will change as far as the noise is concerned as the engine brakes are actually a safety feature in semi's, it allows you to go down hills without using your brakes and heating them up, which would render the brakes useless, so regardless of what a sign says that engine brakes are prohibited, unless you live on a relatively flat area, chances are it's unavoidable or risk having run away trucks with no brakes flying through your town.
As far as speed goes, if you see these semi's obviously speeding through your community, I would suggest writing down the time, company name of the semi and phone #'s on the doors and or side of truck and license # if you can get it and report them to police and their company, if they are doing the speed limit there is nothing you can do
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I live in a perfectly flat area so the only they have for using the jake break is that there is a Stop sign very near and they are well exceeding the speed limit so no chance to see the company name or license plate . I have complained to the Police Dept and as long as the Polcie Vehicle sits at the corner everyone obey's the posted signage and perhaps a few days afterward but soon they resume disobeying them in fact it has in the past gotten worse after complaining .
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If it's flat and only a stop sign there is no reason what so ever to use the jake brake, the brakes won't heat up for a stop sign enough to make any safety issue. If it's as bad as you say, I personally would video these trucks then, with sound, that way you can get the company name and catch them illegally using their jake brakes. It's sad to hear that supposed professional drivers behave this way and speed through a town, no excuse for that at all.
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I thank you so much "Class 1 Driver " for your input . I have been thinking about doing just that video taping them as a way to put a stop to the dangerous driving habits of these drivers . Forest Grove is so much more that just a stop sign , I think that everyone in this community is fed up with the disregard of the road signs . Those signs are there for a reason it's called safety .
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I totally agree with you too, the 50 km/hr zone there is not going to make barely any difference in the time out of their day to have any excuse not to follow it either not to even mention they shouldn't speed in any towns anyways, no excuse at all, and now knowing where your talking about there is absoluyly zero reason any semi would need to use their jake brakes there in any direction.
You are also correct road signs are for safety, ignoring them is pure selfishness, I wish you luck and hope that works for you. I have no idea if it's leagal or would work putting up signs traffic is under video survalance, you would only need 3 signs, that's just a thought though, might be worth looking into,,,, Cheers :-)
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I thank you for your support and suggestions . I wish all semi drivers were as law abiding as you are .
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I suspect that proving a driver is in violation of MVA(R) 7A.01 (Noise from Motor Vehicles) could be challenging, particularly as modern Jake Brakes have different settings, which affects the volume of noise they're generating. And without a device to measure the decibel level being produced, it's hard to prove that it's excessive.
But Section 161 should apply; and so taking a video of a truck passing a highway sign specifying that engine brakes should not be used, with the sound of the Jake audible in the video, should be sufficient to show that an offense was taking place.
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P.S. I wish I had video taped the driver this winter cruising through the stop sign with his cell phone in hand chatting away !
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Logging Trucks