Engine idling
Today our company marketing team tweeted about Drivers to be fined for leaving engines running, which is essentially a UK scheme to cut down CO2 by fining drivers £20 if they refuse to turn off their engine when requested to do so – e.g. when loading.
It reminds me of the common practice in Switzerland where only the first handful of cars at a red traffic light are allowed to keep their engine running.
That actually makes a lot of sense to me:
“In Sweden, individuals have long refrained from engine idling when stopped in vehicle traffic. In Switzerland, there are laws that you have to turn your engine off if you are waiting at a red traffic light. In other European countries, permissible durations of engine idling vary from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. Italy and France allow 10 seconds, while drivers can idle for 40 seconds in Germany and 60 seconds in Holland. Several cities in Taiwan have banned engine idling effective in 2008. Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore allow 3 minutes of engine idling in any one-hour period. Fines and enforcement measures varies country to country.”
Strangely, this is my first post talking about cars after working for a car company for three and a half years!