Lacey, WA Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)

Section 10.04.025 is the one Lacey provision aimed at the engine-brake bark of heavy trucks. It sits in Chapter 10.04, the Traffic Code, and applies in addition to the Washington Model Traffic Ordinance the city adopts by reference in § 10.04.010. The ban is written broadly: it is unlawful within the city for any person to operate brakes upon a motor vehicle which are in any way activated or operated by the compression of the engine, or any unit or part of it. The section names no delivery or commercial class, so a parcel van, a beverage truck and a dump truck are treated alike, and no hour of the day is carved out.

Two exceptions are printed. First, it is a defense if compression brakes were applied in an emergency and were necessary for the protection of persons and property. Second, the section does not apply to public fire personnel operating emergency equipment within the city, nor to persons operating vehicles for public conveyance within the city. A delivery driver does not fall in either exception merely because the load is time-sensitive.

Scope is set by § 10.04.020: the traffic code provisions relating to motor vehicles apply on any street or highway, and also on any road, alley, lane, parking area, driveway or any place, private or public, adapted and fitted for travel that is in common use by the public with the consent of the owner. A loading-area driveway used by the public can be covered. Section 10.04.025 prints no penalty of its own. Section 1.12.010 caps a Lacey ordinance misdemeanor at a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment not to exceed ninety days, or both, and a gross misdemeanor at not more than $5,000 or one year, but the section does not say which class applies.

Truck limits also come from Chapter 10.12. The city engineer can prohibit motor trucks or impose weight limits on a public street when rain, snow or other conditions would seriously damage it, and the restriction takes effect only once signs are erected. Violating Chapter 10.12 is a misdemeanor (§ 10.12.030).