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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

78 replies

hugoagogo · 04/12/2012 16:04

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.

OP posts:
cynnerthenaughtyreindeer · 04/12/2012 16:06

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

mrskeithrichards · 04/12/2012 16:11

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!

cinnamonnut · 04/12/2012 16:13

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

CQuin · 04/12/2012 16:13

and not park on the pedestrian crossing

Feminine · 04/12/2012 16:13

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!

BlissfullyIgnorant · 04/12/2012 16:18

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?

3b1g · 04/12/2012 16:20

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

StaceymReadyForNumber3 · 04/12/2012 16:22

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

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 04/12/2012 16:38

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!

mrskeithrichards · 04/12/2012 16:46

Get a warmer jacket.

MaxPepsi · 04/12/2012 16:48

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.

mrskeithrichards · 04/12/2012 16:50

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.

FlaminNoraImPregnantPanda · 04/12/2012 16:53

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]

mrskeithrichards · 04/12/2012 16:56

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

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 04/12/2012 17:11

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.

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 04/12/2012 17:26

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.

mrskeithrichards · 04/12/2012 18:04

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.

Sparklingbrook · 04/12/2012 18:10

YANBU.

AndABigBirdInaPearTree · 04/12/2012 18:11

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.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 04/12/2012 18:12

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.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 04/12/2012 18:14

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

AndABigBirdInaPearTree · 04/12/2012 18:15

ten second rule apparently

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

GwendolineMaryLacedwithBrandy · 04/12/2012 18:16

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.

helpyourself · 04/12/2012 18:18

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

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 04/12/2012 18:19

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.

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