It’s not uncommon for me to turn onto my street heading home from a walk and see a van, truck or car idling in front of my house. It is infuriating to see this.
I know how harmful it is to human and environmental health for any motor vehicle to sit idling. Yet it is not uncommon to see idling vehicles in parking lots waiting to pick up children, outside people’s homes, or in busy shopping areas.
In all these places, whether it is a steaming hot summer day or a brutally cold winter day, or anything in between, the exhaust from the idling vehicle pollutes our air and causes asthma, heart disease, chronic bronchitis and cancer.
Idling vehicles also release one pound of carbon dioxide every 10 minutes contributing 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide to our atmosphere every year.
Carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to climate change. If that’s not enough, an idling car uses 1/5 to 7/10 of a gallon of fuel an hour while an idling diesel truck burns approximately one gallon of fuel an hour. That is burning money.
We have taken steps to address this issue.
According to the code of the village of Flower Hill, “Vehicles shall not be permitted to idle within the village in excess of two minutes.”
Suffolk County prohibits idling for longer than five minutes when the temperature is above 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Anti-school bus idling laws are ubiquitous because people understand the dangers buses idling in school parking lots present to school children. It is a risk not outweighed by outside temperatures.
So why is it then, do we sit at school drop-off or on the after-school activity pick up line with our cars idling?
Why at the train station waiting to pick up a commuter do we leave our cars running? We know how bad it is and yet we justify it because it is cold or hot out or sometimes for no apparent reason at all.
Are we really willing to jeopardize our health, contribute to climate change and waste our money just to keep the heat or air conditioner running for a few minutes?
Is your car going to cool off or become so unbearably hot in the few minutes you are waiting to justify this risk? Better yet, why did we even drive when we were close enough to walk?
Idling your car is one of many choices we can make with awareness of the damage our decision will cause and understanding of the example we will set for our children and neighbors by our chosen action. It is small steps that may cause some minimal discomfort like turning off your car or bringing your own cup to get your coffee that will help us hold global temperature increases as low as possible.
There is no question we will see a rise in overall global temperatures and all the consequences of that (including sea level rise, more droughts, severe storms). We do still have some control over how many degrees the temperature will rise and the severity of the consequences. It is these relatively simple choices that will save lives.
I want to print a small card listing the dangers of idling vehicles to pass out to any car or truck I pass that is idling. It will state such facts as Americans spend $13 million every day on unnecessary idling and that breathing exhaust fumes can damage brain cells and lower IQs.
Idling can damage engine components because fuel is not fully combusted so fuel residues build up. Of course, it will include how idling is linked to increases in asthma, allergies, heart and lung disease and cancer. Leaving your car running burns fuel unnecessarily and releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Don’t be surprised if I knock on your window and hand you one of my cards. I am on a mission to get people to stop idling. It is a relatively simple thing to stop and has widespread and significant results. I hope you’ll join me and set an example for everyone around you.
