Police kick off multi-week ‘unmuffled engine braking’ blitz in Oregon town

Police in the town of Springfield, Oregon, say that they’ll be cracking down on unmuffled engine braking following complaints from locals.

The Springfield Police Department (SPD) announced the increased enforcement effort on Tuesday, March 2.

From SPD:

After complaints from citizens in East Springfield area neighborhoods, SPD, ODOT and Springfield Public Works, are conducting ongoing enforcement of Unmuffled Engine Braking from the east city limit to Bob Straub Pkwy for the next several weeks. Beyond speed being a very serious factor for these large, heavy vehicles, many of which are log trucks hauling timber from the Holiday Farm Fire zone to mills, the use of unmuffled engine braking, which can be heard in the video clip in the comments, has been waking citizens as early as 4am.

Our traffic team will be monitoring speed and engine braking to ensure compliance with Oregon Traffic code and will be spreading awareness amongst truckers of the potential for enforcement.

We support our local truckers and their important role in our local economy, but also want to ensure that our citizens’ well-being is being taken into consideration, which is why these traffic codes are in place to begin with. There are clear exceptions for the appropriate use of these engine brakes, such as emergent need to stop, and our team will be monitoring these details as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment here or contact our non-emergency line at 541-726-3714.

SPD also shared a video featuring unmuffled engine braking as an example of what they’ll be on the lookout for during the patrols.