Idling: Socially unacceptable?

[bainbridge]

According to the local news people are being encouraged to film people idling and send it into the council to examine and issue a fine.

Now, it's my understanding that if you're spotted idling unnecessarily and refuse to switch off when asked by a traffic warden (and presumably the police) you can be fined £20. So if the council receive a video of me idling filmed by a random member of the public how can they fine me?

Also, what's the definition of unnecessarily? Waiting for someone on a cold day and running the engine to keep the heater going to help an elderly passenger or an infant stay warm, for example, is necessary in my opinion.

Also, if the car doesn't have stop start technology and the beefier starting and charging system to support this practice I imagine there would be a rise in breakdowns, slowing rush hour traffic even more.

The reporter was speaking to mums walking their kids to school and complaining about big lorries belching out fumes, but do HGVs even have stop start? I'd be inclined to think that once you get one of those big mothers going you'd keep it running, again a starting failure would cause chaos.

This just doesn't seem to make sense.

 

[bainbridge]

Go have a lung full of co2 and see how you get on

Well you're generating lung fulls of it right now, how are you getting on?

CO (carbon monoxide) is the poisonous stuff that comes out of the exhaust and can kill if inhaled.

 

[bainbridge]

Not quite full lungs as only about 4% co2 is emitted. Humans will die if they breathe in air with too much co2.

Obviously I’m being dramatic but government tax on co2 isn’t the only thing driving emissions down. The EURO emissions standards do too but obviously nasher is ignoring these.

Fair point, I'm surprised how little co2 is in the air we breathe out but I guess we don't process all the oxygen which we breathe in, which iirc forms about 20% of air.