Go Green: Are You an ‘Idler’?
By Tom Last
If you look up the meaning of the word idler in the dictionary it reads “one who spends time idly: an idle, inactive person.” But for this article, idler refers to someone who lets their car engine idle. Unfortunately, I have noticed a great deal of idling in the Rockaways, especially on Beach 129th street. Recently, a friend of mine was sitting in the passenger seat of an idling car, as her husband got out and went to the store. I questioned my friend on why she was idling, and she only shrugged her shoulders. Regrettably, most people don’t think about the effects of idling, however, this practice has serious consequences on all of us and is something we should take seriously.
Idling your car engine is unlawful. The New York City Administrative Code, Title 24, Section 24-163, establishes that no person should allow the engine of a motor vehicle to idle for longer than three minutes while parking, standing, or stopping. In addition, the legal idling time is reduced from three minutes to one minute around public and private school facilities.
Allowing your car engine to idle for a long period can be bad for your engine and is unnecessary for modern car engines. When your car idles, the engine is being used for no purpose. Combustion might not occur properly, and exhaust is being pumped into the atmosphere for no reason.
Idling is dangerous to the environment and with limited rain and one of the warmest Octobers on record, we may want to eliminate wasteful gases being emitted into our atmosphere, as a standard car pumps around a pound of carbon dioxide into the air every ten minutes it idles. That’s a lot of pollution for no apparent reason.
If the pollution issue doesn’t worry you, then think about our health. Idle cars produce fumes that don’t dissipate the same way moving cars do and these fumes are dangerous to your health as they have been linked to respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, cancer and heart disease.
Idling can be dangerous to your car engine. If you’ve ever priced the cost of a replacement engine, you know this is something you don’t want to pay for. Although turning your engine on and off frequently may be hard on a car battery, but compared to the cost of repairing an engine, you would probably prefer replacing a battery than an engine.
Thinking of it another way, when you idle, you are going nowhere and wasting fuel. We are all worried about gas prices and when we see $4.00 a gallon we complain about the high price. However, why not stop idling and pay less for gas?
So, the next time you are on Beach 129th Street and leave your car to run into the store for a cup of coffee, or the bank to use the ATM, make sure your car engine is off and feel good that you are saving money, helping the environment, following the law, and preserving your engine. Remind friends, family members, and others to do the same.
Remember, there is no Planet B.
