‘No Jake Brake’ Gives Warning to Noisy Truck Drivers

Dear Street Smart:

On westbound Hueneme Road at the Port Hueneme city boundary near J Street, there is a traffic sign that reads: “No Jake Brake.”

My Webster’s is no help. Does this mean that anyone named Jake is not allowed and should stop at once? Please explain.

John Welker, Port Hueneme

Dear Reader: The sign you noticed along Hueneme Road is no joke. In fact, there are others.

Assistant Engineer Les Leach said Port Hueneme has several such advisories planted along Hueneme Road. They serve as a caution to truck drivers, who frequently use that stretch of road.

Most 18-wheelers are equipped with jake brakes, a more elaborate braking system than the ones built into most vehicles.

Trouble is, they are loud. Because there are many residents who live along Hueneme Road, the city requests that truckers refrain from using jake brakes to slow down.

“If Jake drives a truck, he’s more than welcome in town,” Leach said. “But if he uses jake brakes, he might be stopped and asked not to.”

Law-enforcement types in Port Hueneme know the law, but have so far been reluctant to write up scofflaw truckers.

“We’ve never issued a citation for it, but there is an enforceable section against using jake brakes,” Sgt. Christopher Graham said.

The penalty, he said, “would be up to a judge.”

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Dear Street Smart: This is about that street light at the corner of Janss Road and Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks.

Sometimes when the green light changes, allowing traffic on Janss Road to go through the intersection, the left-turn arrow comes on beforehand and sometimes it comes on after the light has changed to green. Sometimes it doesn’t come on at all. It’s just not consistent.

The green left-turn arrow should come on at the same time every time.

Dick Brubaker, Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader: During the past several years, you have astutely noted this subtle difference.

While it is true that the green left-turn arrow at Janss Road was illuminating first for some period of time, and last for other lengths of time, it has been consistent most of this year.

“There have been changes,” traffic analyst Jeff Knowles said. “But it’s not as if there are changes throughout the day.”

During the past several months, city traffic officials have made a number of improvements to that intersection, including adding a second left-turn lane in each direction.

But according to Knowles, the left-turn arrow now activates after the through traffic has passed, and it will remain so for the foreseeable future.

“Right now,” he said, “the lefts go last.”

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Dear Street Smart: The Moorpark Freeway on-ramp to the northbound Ventura Freeway continues to be a problem for me, and I’m sure a lot of other drivers too.

The problem is that when I’m entering the Ventura Freeway, the only way to see merging traffic is to peek through the guard rail along the Ventura Freeway while making the transition.

But that doesn’t always work. Even if I do see the cars coming, sometimes they don’t slow down to let me in, or others are trying to exit the freeway and they crowd into the far right lane.

What are they going to do about the on-ramp? It’s been a problem for a long time.

Dave Carr, Newbury Park

Dear Reader: Nothing. That freeway interchange is not the problem for state transportation analysts that it is for you, according to a field investigation conducted in response to your letter.

“There is approximately half a mile of the auxiliary lane for merging, as indicated by the broken striping,” said Luu Nguyen, who supervises state Department of Transportation operations for Ventura County.

“Entering vehicles from the southbound Moorpark Freeway have plenty of time and distance to merge into the northbound Ventura Freeway,” he said.

Although there are some aggressive motorists who do not practice common courtesy when drivers are merging onto the freeway, Nguyen said, you simply have to slow down and let them pass.

“All signing and striping at this connector are in accordance with Caltrans standards,” he said.