Idling Vehicles
Idling Vehicles Contribute to Air Pollution. Running your engine unnecessarily while your vehicle is stationary:
- Pollutes the environment.
- Costs you money.
- Is illegal.
Idling facts
An idling engine produces up to twice as many exhaust emissions as an engine in motion.
Exhaust emissions contain a range of air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydrocarbons and particulates.
Every 10 minutes of vehicle idling costs at least one-tenth of a litre in wasted fuel.
As a rough guide, if you are going to be parked for more than 30 seconds, turn off your engine and restart when you are ready to move on. Whenever possible, leave your vehicle at home.
Fixed penalty fines
Unnecessary vehicle idling is an offence under the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (Scotland) Regulations 2003.
If you fail to turn your engine off after being spoken to you may be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £20. The legislation covers all vehicles on public roads including buses, taxis and private cars.
The legislation does not apply to:
- Vehicles moving slowly due to road works or congestion.
- Vehicles stopped at traffic lights.
- Vehicles under test/repair.
- Vehicles defrosting a windscreen in very cold weather.
Spot checks involving patrols are carried out by Officers of Orkney Islands Council who will issue a warning to any driver found to be idling their vehicle unnecessarily.
What can you do?
- You can do your bit by switching off the engine if it looks like you could be waiting for more than 30 seconds. Modern cars use virtually no extra fuel when they’re re-started without pressing the accelerator, so you won’t waste lots of fuel switching the engine back on.
- Turn off your engine when stationary, for example - on a road at a shop, school, taxi rank and stands, whilst unloading / loading or when parked outside your house.
- Avoid idling whilst waiting in car parks, petrol stations, “set down” and “pick up points”.
- Why not start by leaving the car at home one day a week? Walking or cycling to school/work is not only good for your health but it will save on fuel costs and help reduce local air pollution. Using public transport, whenever you can, will also reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.
What are the benefits?
- By turning off your engine you improve air quality, reduce fuels costs and comply with the law.
- Reducing air pollutants can help cut heart disease, reduce lung cancer and prevent asthma attacks.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does starting an engine cause more pollution than idling? No. Turning off an engine and restarting it after a minute or two (or longer) causes less pollution than keeping the engine idling and uses less fuel.
- Does the engine need to stay on to keep the battery fully charged? No. Modern batteries need less engine running time.
- When it’s cold I need to keep my vehicle warm or warm up my engine. It can take up to an hour for an engine to cool down. Turning off your engine but keeping the ignition and the fan blowing will provide warm air for some time. If you are concerned about passenger comfort, keep the engine idling to an absolute minimum in warm and cold weather.
- Do catalytic converters need to be hot to work properly? Yes, but an idling engine does not keep a catalytic converter warm. They retain their heat for about 25 minutes after an engine is switched off anyway.
Don't be an idler - switch off your engine and do your bit and make Orkney greener.
Further information is available from the 'Related Sites' section of this page.
