To plead with you to turn your car engine off when you wait for your dc to come out of school?

[hugoagogo]

And I will tell you why:

The smell
The waste
The enviroment
Air pollution

Even in this weather you will stay warm for a few minutes.

Our school has a no engine idling rule in pick up line. Not nice for children to walk through all that exhaust..

Contact the school. Our school pick ups were fine until recently, now people park on double yellows, cover dropped kerbs, idle and even drive to the gates which isn't allowed. It's a bloody minefield now!

Ooh no, can't have the precious DCs getting into a car without the heating on full blast can we now

and not park on the pedestrian crossing

Yes, I agree.

when I had to walk past the school line in the US, I was almost gassed.

Especially in this country, there is no need!

Ex school had a drop off zone and kids always had to get bags from boot. I was the only one to switch off, even for those few seconds, as the exhaust is inevitably going to blast DCs retrieving their gear. And it stinks.
YANBU. Sitting traffic isn't going to swoosh those hideous fumes away, is it?

Or you could even park further away and walk the rest of the distance.

YANBU I hate the gassing we get walking to and from school by people leaving their engines running!

Yabu. I pick my dc up straight from work, and as I'm outside most of the time at work, I need the engine and heating on to thaw.

I will not be turning my engine off, sorry!

Get a warmer jacket.

You use more fuel switching off the engine and re starting it a few minutes later than you do leaving it to idle.

And re starting the engine will still produce emissions so kids will still have to walk through fumes.

That's not true max. Why on earth would all these modern cars have stop start technology if it were true?

If you're stopped for more than ten seconds you're better to turn off.

I'm leaving mine on. But then it's -20C here at the moment and if the engine is off for more than a minute it's freezing and the windows start icing up again. [brrrr]

I think that's understandable in those temperatures. It's barely hit zero here in Scotland yet so it's not that cold!

Mrskeithrichards, not everyone on the school run will have a modern car. Mine dates to 1998, as does DH's. Ds's is the newest, a 2004 model.

A warmer jacket is not going to do anything for fingers that can't be gloved because that would make it impossible to do the job. Nor will it do anything for feet that are cold while already in thermal tights, wool socks and sheepskin boots.

Car heating on full blast does the job nicely after ten minutes though.

I'm not assuming everyone has a modern car, I'm talking about the fact modern cars switch off at traffic lights etc to debunk the fact someone posted about how it's more economic to run your car for a few minutes than it is to turn the engine on and off!

Outraged, sounds chilly, where you working? North pole? Seriously, no excuse to keep your engine running at the school gates.

YANBU.

You could get a car blanket like many of our grandparents had, or you could put gloves on while parked or wear driving gloves. A warmer jacket often does warm your hands more, as does a camisole or other extra layer on your core.

You shouldn't need to thaw out in the car if you are dressed appropriately for the weather. I do a volunteer job that sometimes requires me to stand in subzero weather for several hours. I don't get cold doing so because I've learned what to wear. Sometimes I have to take my gloves off to do the job and I still stay warm enough. Sometimes I get too warm and have to strip down.

I've sat in the car park of a supermarket at a ski resort and been warm enough. DH sat in a bus stop in Finland in January one time to wait for a bus. It isn't that cold in Britain.

But modern cars can switch off and on while waiting because they have modern, computerised engine-management systems. Older cars don't. So yes, it's more fuel-efficient for modern cars to do this, but it remains inefficient for older cars.

Not to mention the extra strain on the battery and starter-motor.

ten second rule apparently

www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2008/05/is_an_idle_car_the_devils_workshop.html

No thanks, i'll leave mine on if it's cold enough, though generally i don't. DD2 is in the car and i can't put a thick coat on her because of the car seat straps and she kicks blankets etc off. I don't mind the cold but she does.

YANBU
Even worse in the summer when twats leave it on for the ac.

Seriously, no excuse to keep your engine running at the school gates.

I don't need an excuse! I'm a grown up with my own car, I pay my road tax, I pay for my own petrol, and if I want to have my heating (or air conditioning) on, then I will.