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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to leave my engine running for ten mins at 6.45 each morning (M-F)?

801 replies

ThreeJumpersIsNotEnough · 16/12/2018 17:21

Neighbours have just come to the door with a Christmas card and a polite request to be more quiet in the mornings.

I usually leave at 7am to drop dd at breakfast club and get myself to work at 8am (I work Mon-Fri only - no weekends).

Now it's getting colder, the car is unbearably cold in the mornings so last week I started nipping out 10-15 mins earlier while dd was brushing her teeth so the car would be warm for us getting in and the frost/ice would be mostly melted from the window.

Neighbours have revealed that they are normally woken by me leaving most mornings at 7am but they can put up with it as I leave immediately so they are able to go back to sleep. However, they are not willing to put up with what I've been doing recently as they have found it impossible to go back to sleep having been awake for so long waiting for me to leave with the engine running ... Hmm

They have suggested I park further away from the house.

This is my first winter with these neighbours. They only moved in beginning of the year and we're polite to each other but not any more than 'hello' acquaintances. We live very rurally - just our two houses - in woodland area. Any noise carries and it is mostly silent (why I moved here - now I'm the one being a noise pest, it would appear). No street lights. 5 minute drive down our landlord's private (god awful road) onto the public road where there are other houses.

If I parked further away, that is further for me and DD to walk to the car each morning - in the pitch black - with our bags. Likewise, it is further for us to walk to the house each evening when we get back.

Not sure what the solution is. I told them I wasn't keen to park farther away (due to the above concerns) but they've asked me to give it a try at least for tomorrow. I've agreed to try it.

AIBU to ask for your ideas on what a peaceful resolution to this would be?

OP posts:
HopeGarden · 16/12/2018 17:54

Our local police have also been warning recently against leaving engines running to de-ice cars.

People doing this are an easy target for opportunistic car thieves, and apparently it invalidates your car insurance if your car is stolen while left unattended with the engine running.

loveka · 16/12/2018 17:54

It is unbelievably selfish. A neighbour does this to us, at 4am every morning. He parks under our bedroom window. It is horrendous in the winter when he de-ices his car.

15 minutes of an engine running is torture to listen to. I have to wear ear plugs and now have an ear infection from the earplugs!

ItWasntMeItWasIm · 16/12/2018 17:54

Everyone does this here and no one complains. Also north of Scotland!

I think the noise of scraping ice would be a lot worse!

JudasPrudy · 16/12/2018 17:55

I can't believe you aren't mortified that you're waking your neighbours every morning so you don't have to feel slightly cold.

blackteasplease · 16/12/2018 17:56

Yabu for the environmental consequences of leaving the engine on.

HopeGarden · 16/12/2018 17:58

I think the noise of scraping ice would be a lot worse!

You can’t have ever scraped ice from a car if you think this!
Scraping ice from car windows is much quieter than a car engine running, at least on any car I’ve driven.

simonisnotme · 16/12/2018 17:58

its a wonder you havent had your car pinched
get a frost protector for your windscreen from iceland, a car soon warms up even if it is freezing outside

ViragoKnows · 16/12/2018 17:58

Children can actually withstand a few minutes of being cold.

Waddsup12 · 16/12/2018 17:58

Not read the whole thread, apologies but this is so bad. Think of people with poor lung function and asthmatics. You might think it's just me, but loads of people do this and that's one of the reasons air quality in the UK is shit.

Put a cover over the windscreen.

ForalltheSaints · 16/12/2018 17:59

YABU and the neighbours should be commended for coming to speak to you and not just leaving a note or contacting the local police or environmental health.

Wear a woolly hat in the car or an extra scarf.

Milly848 · 16/12/2018 17:59

Do you leave the car running unattended? If yes, you're breaking the law.

MQv2 · 16/12/2018 17:59

Christ that's so inconsiderate

An absolute dickhead move

Original poster
ThreeJumpersIsNotEnough · 16/12/2018 18:03

Is it still illegal even if not on a public road?

I wont be leaving my engine running for that length of time anymore but would be good to know going forwards (e.g. sometimes I'll run back to the house to double check I've turned the iron off or something while the engine is running).

OP posts:
waxy1 · 16/12/2018 18:03

Must be an awfully loud car, or else they are do-gooding environmental busybodies.

Original poster
ThreeJumpersIsNotEnough · 16/12/2018 18:04

Seems like a few hot water bottles tomorrow is the solution and the frost guard hopefully when it's delivered in a few days.

OP posts:
Milly848 · 16/12/2018 18:05

@ThreeJumpersIsNotEnough it's illegal if left unattended, as the vehicle is technically running with no one in charge of it which could be dangerous. I think if you stay with it, it's fine.

busybarbara · 16/12/2018 18:06

The law is

You MUST NOT leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine running or leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationary on a public road

So if it's not a public road, fill your crocs

Swipetounlock · 16/12/2018 18:06

Leaving the engine running pumps pollution into your neighbours houses, even with the windows closed. It's noisy and antisocial. It isn't even about the time of day, I have gone out and had a row with a bloke who was running his engine outside my house to charge his mobile.

insancerre · 16/12/2018 18:08

*Birdsgottafly

You're really lucky. I'd have arranged for your car to be stollen and you wouldn't be insured.*

Bit drastic, turning her car into cake

ThePoliticiansPraiseMyName · 16/12/2018 18:08

We live in Canada where in winter it regularly hits -30 or below. We are not allowed to have the car idling for more than 5 minutes. The dc wear layers and have blankets in the car. I turn the engine on, get the dc strapped in while the heaters blast full heat and pile on their blankets. They carry those microwave oat bags and have gloves and hats. No coats in the car because they impede the safety of the seat belts. Sometimes we put coats on backwards over the top of seatbelts with their arms in the sleeves! We have a windscreen cover so I take that off then quickly as possible clear the snow from the car. It's not unbearable - most mornings. -2 counts as a mild morning in winter! 😂

Howdoyoudoit31 · 16/12/2018 18:09

I do this all the time. Loads of people on my street do it. No one has ever said anything to me and Iv never said anything to anyone.

masterandmargarita · 16/12/2018 18:09

Even if you didn't know it was illegal you must have known it made noise

Puggles123 · 16/12/2018 18:09

YABU, buy some de-icer and wrap up in the mornings.

PattiStanger · 16/12/2018 18:09

Do you have an old blanket or large piece if cardboard, I don't think you need to but a special cover, secure an old sheet in the front doors and you'll save any ice clearing

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