Wednesday 21 May is National Idling Awareness Day. To mark this, Knowsley Council is aiming to raise awareness of the negative health, environmental and financial impacts of leaving a vehicle’s engine idling unnecessarily.
What is engine idling?
Engine idling is the unnecessary running of your engine, whether it’s on your driveway, outside a shop or at the school pick up.
What is the impact?
Engine idling:
- Increases harmful emissions
- Causes health problems like asthma
- Wastes fuel and costs money
- Creates unnecessary noise
Why it’s so important to switch off
Road traffic vehicles are one of the biggest contributing factors to poor air quality in our borough.
Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK. It shortens lives and reduces quality of life, particularly among the most vulnerable, the young and old, and those living with health conditions
Idling for just 30 seconds produces twice as much pollution and wastes more fuel than switching off and restarting an engine. Turning your engine off helps reduce harmful emissions released into the atmosphere.
Every minute spent idling is harmful to the environment, impacts the health of others and costs you money!
Five idling myths
False – Turning your engine off and on uses more fuel and produces more pollution.
Fact – The opposite is true!
False – Turning your engine off and on wears it out.
Fact – Electronic ignitions have eliminated this issue in modern cars. Engine idling actually increases wear and tear due to incomplete fuel combustion!
False – You need to keep your engine running to keep the battery charged.
Fact – This is not necessary with modern batteries.
False – It’s best to warm up your engine by leaving it running for a few minutes.
Fact – Modern engines do not need to be warmed up before use!
False – You need to keep the engine running to keep car and passengers warm.
Fact – You can heat through the fans with the engine off and the ignition on.
Cllr Shelley Powell, Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, said: “Idling your engine has a negative impact on air quality and people’s health, particularly those with existing health conditions. It’s a noise nuisance, wastes fuel and costs you money.
“There are a number of myths that prevail around engine idling from years ago, such as “it’s best to warm up your engine before setting off” or “turning your engine off and on wastes fuel”. For modern cars the opposite is true. In fact, idling has a detrimental effect on the health of your engine, as well as everyone else!
“That’s why we’re urging people to seriously consider the impact of engine idling and turn it off!”
For more information contact Knowsley Council’s Environmental Health team on 0151 443 4712 or via environmentalhealth@knowsley.gov.uk