The potential liability for the city is one reason councilors and the mayor decided Monday not to prohibit engine brakes from being used on Westbrook streets.
Several councilors and the city administrator acknowledged at a meeting of the Growth and Traffic Committee Monday they have received complaints about the noise made by engine brakes, which are used by trucks to slow down more quickly.
City Councilor Lyle Cramer, who was not at the meeting, proposed implementing an ordinance that would prohibit the brakes from being used throughout the city.
In researching the potential ordinance, City Administrator Jerre Bryant said he could not find another municipality in the area that had such an ordinance, and that signs put up on roads in the area were advisory and not punitive.
Bryant said the administration is recommending taking the same type of measure in Westbrook, rather than moving forward with a new ordinance.
One resident, John Poitras, urged the council to do the same, emphasizing that engine brakes are for safety and if an accident were to happen because a truck driver was not allowed to use them, the city could be liable.
“It does slow the trucks down substantially,” Poitras said of the engine brakes. To prohibit them, he said, is “going to extreme measures.”
Bryant said he had also spoken to Police Chief Bill Baker who said it would be a difficult law to enforce.
Councilors agreed that looking further into advisory signs seemed to be the most appropriate action.
City Councilor John O’Hara took Poitras’ comment to heart, saying he feared the law would put “a bull’s eye on our back,” if anyone was ever injured because engine brakes weren’t used.
Bryant said the administration would report back to the councilors later with a plan to put up signs in the spring.
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