To think people can defrost their cars without running their engine all morning?

[shinysnowman]

I start work in a couple of hours. I have been awake since 5am, due to a steady flow of neighbours who have sat in their car with their engine running, one actually revving their engine constantly, waiting for their car to defrost. The first at 5am, each for a good 15 minutes each. It's been the same every day this week.

Don't people scrape their cars anymore? Is it wrong for me to be annoyed and think that they are being inconsiderate?

(Apologies to those with DC who are dragged up with them at this time!)

@MintyMabel

"If you don't want your kids to breathe car fumes, go live on a mountain."

Good lord...perhaps all this promotion around electric cars etc is a waste of time, because we should belch out as much fumes as we want, under the proviso that everyone knew what they were signing up to living in a conurbation.

The standard of argument is making my toes curl.

What happened to just considering what we're doing? For what it's worth I think it's brilliant that it's an offence to idle your car while unattended. It's unnecessary selfish polluting.

I also personally recommend this dehumidifier bag
Pingi LV-A300 Dehumidifier for... www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I3VKBJS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I am chucking away at this thread - workers are 'allowed' to defrost their car to get to work safely as long as they feel suitably guilty and contrite whilst doing so.

No one is feeling full of the joys defrosting their car at silly o'clock, but if adding contrition to the general grimness makes the late sleepers feel a bit better I am sure we will all do our best.

Or minty you could live nearer your place of work? (Rather than everyone else moving to a mountain)

workers are 'allowed' to defrost their car to get to work safely as long as they feel suitably guilty and contrite whilst doing so.

Nah, still don't feel guilty. If anyone wants me to stop doing this then they can pay my mortgage and bills and I'll stay in bed at 5am instead of getting up for a 2-4h drive to whichever cold sports field i'm working on that day.

As for living near where people work - oh that's funny. All those high paying professional jobs in villages......

It's unnecessary selfish polluting.

So is owning a car in the first place.

www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/winter-driving/how-to-demist-your-windscreen-in-double-quick-time/

www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/winter-driving/how-to-keep-your-windscreen-clear-in-winter/

It takes less than 10 minutes to do it properly. Personally, I'm not prepared to risk the window misting up again while I'm driving so I do it the way recommended by the RAC. If neighbours or environmentalists don't like that - tough. My safety and those of other road users wins every time.

As for living near where people work - oh that's funny. All those high paying professional jobs in villages......

I actually only work 4 miles from home. The problem is public transport won't get me there on time and the route isn't safe to walk or cycle in winter. I can either carry on scraping or demisting or hope one of the holier than thous on here help me with the bills!

My office is also about 4 miles from home - but I'm not there all the time and nor are most of my staff. A lot of people work like me - one base, but out and about all day polluting the environment with our dreadful cars.

There is no way that I'm going to fanny around with hot water bottles and other bollocksy methods at 5am and -3oC when a few minutes sat in the car with the heater/demisters on will do the job better.

Good lord...perhaps all this promotion around electric cars etc is a waste of time, because we should belch out as much fumes as we want, under the proviso that everyone knew what they were signing up to living in a conurbation.

Electric car isn't a solution for me. They don't work for every situation.

You're one of those who move next to a school then complain about the noise, aren't you.

Me running my car for an extra 5 minutes isn't killing the planet and doing so means my view is clear when I drive past all those little kiddies who wander all over the place on the road to school. I'm happy with that.

Better to have no cars on streets around schools

Better to have no cars on streets around schools

I (along with many other people) live beside a school, will we not be allowed to have a car then?

Also note that electric cars are all well and good, but they still have to generate the electricity somehow. I'm not saying it's exactly the same but unless you are driving in a solar powered car made from wood from a sustainable forest then it still has an environmental impact. Plus they are too quiet and I'm sure I'm going to be killed by one in Waitrose carpark one day

@Vulpine I don't live anywhere near a school. 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's obvious that some people on this thread don't work, don't need to get to work and don't think about people who have to work

Rule 123 of The Highway Code looks at 'The Driver and the Environment', stating that drivers 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.19 Jun 2018
www.rac.co.uk › drive › advice › emissions › idling

Those of us who started off with a heater-less Morris Minor are sitting here chuckling!

A heater was 'extra'. But all models did come with a rather nice tartan rug.

I was told of the plastic bag of hot water only recently, by a (female) friend. It works very well. The trick to getting the inside de-misted is blower full on and having a window open. Sorry - but it works. You can get warm after a few minutes.

Depends on your definition of 'unnecessarily' though. It is necessary to be able to see out the windows to drive so maybe that would be a necessary running of the engine while stationary.

or they can just use a windscreen sheet ,no scraping needed for the front window , even stops it icing up inside

YABU. I scrape my car best I can, but at times it does need that helping hand from heat. I have fibromyalgia, damaged discs in my neck and a car with a large windscreen, so there are times when scraping it is pretty much physically out of the question.

I also do need the heaters on for demisting, however I don't just leave it running, I park on the road (terrace)*, I'll be in the car.

I work 12 miles away, it was the nearest I could get a job, and involves a 70mph dual carriageway so cyclng is not an option.

*Also means electric is out of the question.

I’m pretty sure that leaving your car running is against the law in some places, scraping is much better for the environment too.

Lucky to live in a quiet cul de sac so can happily go out and run engine for five minutes to allow windscreen to clear and car to warm up a fraction

However my next door neighbour runs his car every morning for about 15 minutes before he goes to work rain or shine. Just weird !

I do scrape while running the car. At times the frost will not shift without a bit of heat to help soften it

I would love not to have to scrape the windscreen and have the engine running, but theres no other way, until all cars are made with heated windscreens. I think its only Ford that does that.

You don't need to scrape windows or run the engine. Hot tap water slowly poured onto the windows not only clears the frost but demists the inside as well, and no it won't crack or damage the glass. Worked for years and still I see everyone else scraping little portholes.

I'd get a scraper, soft scourer, bowl of warm water, some rubber gloves and not leave your engine idling when you're not actually driving. It's not very considerate. Really polluting.

It's illegal to leave a running car unattended on the public highways