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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To increasingly want to challenge idling car drivers?

72 replies

whataboutbob · 08/04/2019 19:01

I live in London and like many city dwellers am acutely aware of air pollution. I’m getting more and more intolerant of drivers who sit in their cars, engine running and no visible intention of moving on. I came home the other day to find a Land Rover parked outside my flat, driver mobile phone in hand, hazard lights on (why?) and engine running
This went on for about half an hour . I really wanted to challenge himbut wimped out, partly because he had a toddler in the back seat and would probably have told me he needed the heating on because of that. I see that idling is illegal, but can a member of the public challenge someone/ ask them to turn off?Obviously I’d do it politely and have done so in the past, with mixed results. Anyone else feel the same?

OP posts:
1633tonow · 08/04/2019 20:42

PlainSpeakingStraightTalking

Nope, idling is sitting in the car and not moving with engine on also. See above.

NicoAndTheNiners · 08/04/2019 20:44

Actually I believe the law says you mustn't leave the vehicle unattended with the engine running. So if you're sat in it you're legally ok?

The Highway Code states: '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'.

What's the definition of "unnecessarily", the legal definition, not just what people think? Some would argue that having to keep warm in winter is necessary, at temps when just having a coat on won't cut it.

Obviously I get from an environment and noise pollution point of view it's best to be avoided. And I'd certainly put up with being cold for as long as I could.

1633tonow · 08/04/2019 20:44

All those that day they do if anyway, prepared to be fined. You’re like the seatbelt shunners! You’ll change when it starts to cost you.

1633tonow · 08/04/2019 20:45

Actually I believe the law says you mustn't leave the vehicle unattended with the engine running. So if you're sat in it you're legally ok?

No and ignorance is no excuse!

NicoAndTheNiners · 08/04/2019 20:50

I've quoted the Highway Code and it says "unnecessarily". So who defines that because I don't think it's you 1633tonow.

Anyway it says it's only illegal if you don't switch it off when asked to do so by a Marshall amd I was never asked by a Marshall. So I never broke the law.

It's all very well for smug people in warm houses who have never done a manual labouring job to moan about the peasant workers trying to keep warm.

Onceuponacheesecake · 08/04/2019 20:50

It really annoys me too op. I went to Lidl yesterday and there was a car parked next to me in a parent and child space with no kids seats in the car idling his engine. I did my entire shop and he was still there when I came out engine still going! I was fuming.

Backwoodsgirl · 08/04/2019 20:54

Both our cars have a remote start feature so we can warm and de-ice before we leave the house. It automatically cuts off after 60 mins. It’s great when it’s -25C outside.

The alternative is a engine block heater you have to plug in every night.

Xenia · 08/04/2019 20:59

I have often not been rich enough to have a reliable car. Turning it off can mean it never starts again. I don't think we should just to conclusions about people who keep the engine on or why they do so.

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 08/04/2019 20:59

Nope. When I was 34 weeks pregnant with a baby I thought I was going to lose and having all sorts of complications I had someone slam on my windscreen because I was sat in the car with the air conditioning on. I had no other place I could be and it was 30 outside. It made me feel awful and I really didn't need the stress. So no, I don't police other people's behaviour because where does it stop? Their parenting? Their clothing choice?

Their parenting and their clothing choice don't pollute the air I breathe. Idling the engine does.

1633tonow · 08/04/2019 21:04

Idling the engine while you sit inside with the windows closed, pregnant, but polluting the air for children and pregnant women passing by...

crackofdoom · 08/04/2019 21:04

It's all very well for smug people in warm houses who have never done a manual labouring job to moan about the peasant workers trying to keep warm.

It's all very well for pampered snowflakes in vans to moan about getting cold; they should try working outside up a ladder all day, in winter. With some twat idling their engine for 90 minutes right next to them.

Cold my arse- they don't know the meaning of the word.

NicoAndTheNiners · 08/04/2019 21:07

I actually spent most of my working day unblocking sewers, somfreezing cold, wet and covered in shit! 😁. Trying to keep warm while eating lunch was the highlight of my cold, smelly existence.

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 08/04/2019 21:08

It's all very well for smug people in warm houses who have never done a manual labouring job to moan about the peasant workers trying to keep warm.

Don't be so sure about this.

Original poster
whataboutbob · 08/04/2019 21:39

Wow, so many responses. Personally I look forward to idling becoming the next socially unacceptable thing. Smoking in pubs used to be OK, (heck I used to do it),now it is not.
There can be all sorts of reasons for having your engine running, but on the whole I believe in most cases it is a self indulgence. The guy in his shiny land rover outside my south London flat did not look 1) like he couldn’t afford to run a reliable car 2) like he was suffering from the cold as he was in a load of expensive looking clothing. I’m sure he’d have pulled the “ my child needs to be kept warm “ card. His choice to sit there pumping out particulates below my kid’s window ( he is showing early signs of asthma), not my choice. The other day in town ( unusually warm day) I politely approached a white van driver who was parked on the kerb, feet on the dash, engine running, I asked him if he’d consider switching his engine off, he said “ no I can’t I’m charging my phone”. The pathetic excuses.

OP posts:
crackofdoom · 08/04/2019 21:40

You can't charge your phone without having your engine running? Hmm

Original poster
whataboutbob · 08/04/2019 21:41

No idea, I haven’t owned a car since 2008. That was his excuse. I’m such a Luddite I bought it.

OP posts:
Vulpine · 08/04/2019 21:47

Cold 'manual labourer' is sitting in van trying to keep warm (let's ignore that this happens all year round Hmm), if said manual labourer is in a remote area I get he has no choice but if he's in a built up area, he can go to a cafe and have a cuppa and warm up.

Mycatwontstopstaring · 08/04/2019 21:54

Well this is interesting, I didn’t know it was illegal.

I think it’s a bit weird to actually challenge people on it though, eventually you’d speak to the wrong person and get thumped. And definitely don’t approach a car with a napping child, obviously!

Original poster
whataboutbob · 08/04/2019 21:55

It seems clear to me that idling includes sitting in your stationary vehicle with the engine running ( not just being outside of it and leaving it unattended). The law states you can be fined £20 if you do not turn off your engine when asked to, it does not make it clear who is entitled to ask you- the lay person, a council official, a traffic warden?
If they incentivised traffic wardens to issue penalty notices to idlers as they do to people who have overstayed their parking tickets, habits would soon change.

OP posts:
Mycatwontstopstaring · 08/04/2019 21:55

Ps Vulpine not many manual labourers can afford to pop into cafes several times a day! Some people have to watch every penny.

Original poster
whataboutbob · 09/04/2019 14:12

I have emailed my MP today to clarify where the law stands, what the potential fines are and who can request that an idler turns off their engine. Will post the reply.

OP posts:
badlydrawnperson · 09/04/2019 14:24

I see that idling is illegal, but can a member of the public challenge someone/ ask them to turn off?

I was in London a couple of weeks ago, walking around the back of Paddington station - down a side street I came upon two uniformed coppers in an otherwise empty police minibus - sitting with the engine clattering away at idle. I considered mentioning the above to them but decided against.

badlydrawnperson · 09/04/2019 14:28

I have often not been rich enough to have a reliable car. Turning it off can mean it never starts again. I don't think we should just to conclusions about people who keep the engine on or why they do so.

There is so much bollocks there I dunno where to start -

  1. You don't need to be rich to have a reliable car.
  2. WTF did you do? Leave it running 24/7 365 days?
  3. What about filling stations?

Twaddle

Backwoodsgirl · 09/04/2019 16:14

What about filling stations?

I know it’s a different country but I normally leave the car running while filling, some stations have a hands free switch on the pump so I can leave it running and filling while I go get a coffee.

havingtochangeusernameagain · 09/04/2019 16:31

Yes idling annoys me too.

When I have to sit in the car in winter for any length of time, I wear a hoody and a coat and there is a blanket in case I get really cold!

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