To think it was ok to have my engine running??!

[GuinefortGrey]

This morning, driving through a village, I received a text that I had been waiting for and required an urgent reply. So I pulled over into space at the side of the road in order to safely read and reply. Lots of space available, so pulled in adjacent to a garden wall, so not directly outside anyone's house. I left the engine running as I sat there as I knew I would only be a couple of minutes. There are no parking restrictions, all village residents park along the road on that side.

Anyway, head down in phone, I noticed movement outside the car and saw a older lady gesturing as me, making key turning movements. Whilst trying to get my brain in gear to work out what on earth she was trying to say (for a moment I thought maybe she had locked herself out!) another younger woman knocked on my window She said "can you turn your engine off as my neighbour has a condition that is made worse by toxic fumes". To be honest I don't know if she said please or not but the tone was very snooty and immediately got my back up. I had literally been there no more than 2 minutes and was just about to leave. I said "I'm just leaving now" and the woman said "well if you ever park here again make sure you turn your engine off", to which I replied "don't worry I shan't ever stop here again now I know it's such a nice, friendly village" and she shouted "good!!!" behind me as I pulled off.

Seriously, I was not even stopped outside the older lady's cottage, but about 2 metres away next to a garden wall. I feel bad because I should have responded more politely but the woman's tone was so rude, and I immediately felt all defensive and blurted out the first things that came out of my mouth, but I still don't think I did anything "wrong" leaving my engine running for a couple of mins. AIBU??

I seem to attract these "tellings off" by random strangers 🙁 . Had a lady have a go at me for using a poo bag to pick up
after my dog a couple of years ago. Said I was polluting the environment and as we live in the countryside should just leave the dog poo for nature to take care of

[BeauGlacons]

On cold and frosty mornings I nip to car, turn on engine, come back in get stuff together, put final bits in dishwasher, etc. Takes about 6/7 minutes. Thankfully no clise neighbours to complain. That's how long it otherwise takes to de-ice and demist so I don't think it's that wrong.

[SouperSal]

That's how long it otherwise takes to de-ice and demist so I don't think it's that wrong.

A £2 scraper would do the job in less time for less money and less damage to the environment. Your way is utterly selfish.

[BadDoGooder]

Souper I was about to say the same thing.

BeauGlacons if everyone does this and thinks it's ok, how much pollution is caused by the cumulative effect of a million people doing that on a frosty morning?
It is selfish, sorry.
You could buy an ice scraper, and put a bit of effort in.

The problem is, everyone thinks it's "just for a minute", but when a million people do the same thing, it has an impact.

Stop running your engines, it's not difficult!
If its a cold morning, put some extra layers on if you have to sit in the car, if its a hot day, open the windows.

Because 10 minutes of comfort for you x a million everyday = a fuck ton of pollutants in the atmosphere, and more environmental problems digging out the oil.

I couldn't care less about the legality of stuff, I don't base my moral judgements on arbitrary laws, many I don't agree with.
I do however base a judgement on whether it's the right thing to do in a wider context, and all the people on this thread who see no problem with running engines for heat/AC/5 minutes texting, aren't thinking of the wider ramifications of their actions.

[BadDoGooder]

No wonder the environment is going to shit.
ffs.

"Its only 5 minutes of running the engine"
"it's only one bit of discarded plastic"
"It's only one dead species"
etc etc

[BeauGlacons]

Actually it takes as long to demist as it takes the ice to melt so what logic is there in the £2 scraper. Accept I could cut a Cpl of minutes off it.

[BeauGlacons]

Why is it better for me to sit in a stationery car while it demists than to use the time more constructively? I assume nobody thinks it would be more acceptable if I drove with limited visibility?

[thebestfurchinchilla]

bleau It's not better to sit in it while it demists. The engine will still be running. Use some elbow grease and scrape it off. Calories burnt, bingo wings banished and at no cost to the environment.

[BadDoGooder]

Beau just don't run the engine, at all, to demist the car!
My DP has to leave at 5am, he uses an ice scraper.

Scrape the frost off the outside, use a de mister cloth on the inside, job done.

Don't you see that if a million people all do this every morning, how much damage it does to the environment??

[AppleSetsSail]

If you're stopped, your engine should be off. A stationary, running car is very unpleasant for everyone around it unless it's one of these modern electric things.

In my old age I have started apologising more easily if a stranger corrects me, even rudely, if I know I'm in the wrong. It works brilliantly. A simple "Quite right. I apologise."

[betsyderek]

bleau It's not better to sit in it while it demists. The engine will still be running. Use some elbow grease and scrape it off. Calories burnt, bingo wings banished and at no cost to the environment.

Most patronising thing on the internet in the whole world ever

[SouperSal]

[TheVillagePost]

YANBU. The woman who told you off sounds like a nob.

[Archfarchnad]

"I read the other day that in parts of Berlin it is now illegal to reverse into a parking space on the side of a road (ie so the rear of your car would face the pavement - I'm not talking about parallel parking) due to the noxious gases being splurted all over pedestrians."

Really? I'm a driver in Berlin and haven't heard anything about that. But we don't live in the inner-city where that kind of pollution control would be necessary, so we're not affected anyway. I understand the reasoning though - the exhausts would be pumping out onto the pavement just at head height for small children. However, the Berlin state government has form for passing absolutely bonkers laws that nobody likes - a few weeks back they implemented a law outlawing privately owned flats being used as holiday homes, effectively forcing tourists to stay in hotels. And there's huge hoo-ha about where dogs can go without leads. So it wouldn't surprise me if a law about car parking had been introduced too.

To get back to the original point - of course you should switch your engine off while parked, even for two minutes; it's horribly anti-social not to do so.

[betsyderek]

Yeah, anti freeze is well known for its eco properties

[AppleSetsSail]

Betsy you do realise that no one particularly cares about one person idling their car while parked - it's the cumulative effect of many people idling their cars?

[AppleSetsSail]

It's kind of like this

1 person not cleaning up dog poo = not a problem
Many people not cleaning up dog poo = problem

1 person not getting immunised = not a problem
Many people not getting immunised = problem

1 person abusing antibiotics = not a problem
Many people abusing antibiotics = problem

But you can't really address the many without addressing the one. See?

[BeauGlacons]

I can't actually reach all of my windscreen with a demisting cloth and when I have the streaks that are left are both annoying and can distort vision when sun hits the screen. Neither can I always physically stretch across to scrape or demist inside due to disc degeneration, spine damage, etc. I figure it's better for me to make my life as manageable as possible so I can continue to work full time and contribute to society than to do things that prevent me from doing so.

Also I think ecology is a holistic matter for every family. Overall we have solar panels, we compost, we recycle, we also have one hybrid car as well. So actually as a complete household unit I'd say we are pretty environmentally friendly and I reserve the right to do something that helps us a family unit and which also is entirely legal when done off the public highway.

[hownottofuckup]

Someone asked you to turn your engine, that didn't need to be on, off due to a neighbours health condition and you think she WBU? She sounds like she was just watching out for/supporting her neighbour. What a cunt huh

[ScrewyMcScrewup]

People are forever driving down my cul-de-sac, stopping outside my house (at the end), and leaving their engines running for minutes on end for god knows what reason. It drives me mad any time of the day. Not only it is pointless but it's bad for the environment AND noisy.

[AppleSetsSail]

I just don't really care. I am just enjoying how utterly cringeworthy these people are, it's entertaining me while I wait for the winds to subside and allow me to get to work (in a helicopter)

You must be a very important person to commute by helicopter.

[betsyderek]

I'm not important, I work offshore.

[AppleSetsSail]

I left my engine running in the IKEA car park today while I was shopping and my car only does 9mpg on average (obvs not in UK and get free petrol) but it didn't run out of fuel.

I missed this one earlier. Did you do this to agitate the air quality harpies, Betsy?