'idling offence'
 

Motorists who leave their cars running on frosty mornings to warm up the engine and clear the windscreen could face being fined under anti-pollution rules this winter.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0Y5WhU3Vn



whatever next :confused:

Re: 'idling offence'
 

The worst thing you can do, especially for diesel engines is run straight from cold

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Well on cold frosty mornings the first thing I do is check that the wipers are free to move and turn on the engine (waiting for the glow plug light to go out first).

If its below 4C the front and rear window heating elements come on automatically.

with the engine idling I scrape the side windows, wing mirrors, front and rear lights. then I scrape the remanding ice from the front and rear windows.

By then I can safely drive away.

If I scrape the car down first, I still have to wait beacuse the front screen will mist up.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

on my van there is a green button on the dash when pressed it allows the ignition key to be removed and leaves engine running [but cuts out engine if throttle is touched] its for the dynawatt inverter system, but it also means i can leave it running with no fear of it being stolen while it warms up and de-ices.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

posh git stop bragging ;)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Ah, the Daily Fail. No wonder it gets laughed upon so often, it's a crapshod newspaper only worthy for wiping the brown stuff from your backside.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Seen as I live 4 floors up, i tend to sit in mine while it warms up with a cuppa - could i be done for sitting without due care or drink-sitting? :rolleyes:

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Perhaps a story from the Daily Heil that we can believe....err no, on second thoughts, that is asking a bit much.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

problem is they don't report the stuff us grownups like to read in the beano or even the dandy, its a shame but there it is ;)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Yes. A van. Très posh :)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

its got cup holders .

Re: 'idling offence'
 

mine are heated cup holders .....when the hot air pipe from the heater falls off ;)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Does it have one of those 'How am I driving?' stickers as well? :)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

I always find the buggers are driving too fast to write down the number whilst I'm driving :erm:

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Its called the `Runstop` system, lots of Paramedics vehicles have it, so do Ambulances, Police cars etc.
It`s to stop ***** jumping in and driving off in them. :)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Yet another Daily Mail scaremongering story. Yes indeed, motorists could be fined for leaving their engines idling. Just as they could have been since 2002 when the law was introduced. But does anyone know of anybody (apart from taxi drivers, who the legislation is mainly aimed at) who's been fined for the offence in those seven years?

To be honest I'd be surprised if anyone even knew of a taxi driver who'd been fined for it.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

The Mail taking speculation based upon a law that's been in force for 7 years and reporting it as fact?

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Yup, you should leave it to idle for a good minute when it's very cold to allow the oil to circulate. Never rev a cold diesel hard as it wears them very very easily.

I have to be very careful myself this winter as I will be doing shorter than normal journeys, as my friend lives just a mile away who I visit most days.

I'd love to know how they worked that one out...

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Ever heard of Shank's pony? Very environmentally friendly.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

.[/QUOTE]

thats because a cold engine can use 2-3 times as much fuel to start as it would idling

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Would you like to walk in the freezing cold and pouring rain if you have a car available? Doubt it ;)

Absolute rubbish. Yes a cold engine uses more fuel, but not that much more. A modern engine will use a little more fuel for just a few minutes when cold, then it returns to normal. It won't do it if the engine is already warm though.

My car being mechanical injection diesel won't use any more fuel cold as it does when warm. Modern common rail injection engines might though, but I highly doubt it with the level of computer calculations involved.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

When I'm bored and sitting behind one of them vans at the lights. I usually call it up and tell them how he's cutting up the traffic and everything :)

---------- Post added at 23:51 ---------- Previous post was at 23:47 ----------

Who's going to be doing the walking the streets and fining people? are these new job vacancies?

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Are these the same people who will fine us when they catch us driving dangerously down the street unable to see through misted-up windows?

Or is that a different lot?

Re: 'idling offence'
 

There *are* other ways of clearing your windows...

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Other than repeatedly wiping them with a demister cloth? It's a long reach to the rear side windows in some cars...

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Do you even need those windows clear when stationary? You certainly don't when parked.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

And that's a reason for driving with windows which you can't see out of, because....?

Oh the hardship.......:geez:

Re: 'idling offence'
 

I need clear windows to look over my shoulder to check that the blind spots are clear of traffic before moving off and to check over my shoulder for traffic on the main road when filtering onto it or when changing lanes on crowded roads.

That's why IMHO it's safer to let the car warm up (enough for the windows to stay clear after I wipe them) before driving off. ;)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Oh dear, if 'idling' becomes an offence half our MP's and Lords will face prosecution.... :D

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Oh FFS, if you don't know how to de-mist ya windows, you're doing something very very wrong. ALL cars by law have to have heating settings that can de-mist a window in around 60 seconds. Commonly, it involves turning the 2 or 3 heat switches on to a position where the icon is the heat arrows snaking towards the windscreen. If you can't see where your mirrors are, windows down, windows up usually works.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Unless you have a Ford with quickclear windscreen ;)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

A lot of them have aircon, but think it's only useful in the summer.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

On many cars they just cool the air unless you buy a top of the range model with proper climate control giving hot and cold at the touch of a button.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

yes but for the heating system to work the engine needs to be running and driving with misted up windows is both stupid and dangerous so normally a short period idling (5 mins or so) will sort it out if the engine is cold, so,if this does become a offence we will have to break the law to obey the law :confused:

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Normal aircon will demist the windows.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

It takes maybe 1 minute to get back in the car (if necessary), back into the driving seat and start the engine, does it not? That gives another 3 minutes with your engine running for you to pull out...

It's even easier if your car has electric windows.. Just put the rear window down then up again.. It should clear the window enough for SOME visibility to be restored.

Finally, if you know the weather will be frosty, what about covering the windows at night? It does work.

Surely your engine would already be running at this point?

Re: 'idling offence'
 

On a cold morning it will not though.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

One thing to remember. The planet has a finite amount of oil (and diesel). If enough people stop running their cars for even 5 minutes in the morning, then the amount of fuel saved would be significant.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Not if it's frost and not mist, no.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Well this morning at 0630 only the heat would clear my misted up screen and if I had waited for the Aircon blowing cold air I would have had a long wait and wasted a lot more petrol.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

It works with the aircon blowing warm/hot.
if you are demisting with hot air, turning the aircon on at the same time will help a lot.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

I'm lucky I have a 55 plate Mondeo Ghia X, that automatically turns on the front and rear screen heaters, which in turn does the wing mirrors, and I drive down the road with all windows / light clear, my bum is being kept lovely and warm by the seat heaters.

I have seen people driving down the road (Feb this year when we had the heavy snow in the south east). with a A4 size part of the screen free from snow, the side and rear windows had thick snow as did the lights.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

I've got a garage :)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Yes it will.

---------- Post added at 22:13 ---------- Previous post was at 22:11 ----------

So, why didn't you put on the warm air, conditoned or not?

---------- Post added at 22:14 ---------- Previous post was at 22:13 ----------

In Sweden it is illegal to drive with snow on your car (just a bit of trivia :D).

Re: 'idling offence'
 

because the engine needs to be hot to get hot air which entails running it strangely enough :rolleyes:

Re: 'idling offence'
 

True. Most car heaters bleed heat from the engine. Only a few have actual electric heaters..

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Air conditioning acts as a dehumidifier, reducing the moisture content in the atmosphere. Irrespective of the temperature, it will significantly remove the condensation from a windscreen.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

but you still have to have the engine running to run the little engine for the air conditioner

didn't you realise that air conditioners in cars have their own engine hence the little tiny exhaust at the back ,thats why running aircon uses so much petrol because your feeding 2 engines

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Are you pulling my plonker? :)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

do you want me to ?;)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Not while I'm sober. no :)

Re: 'idling offence'
 

Yes I was going to say that it has been illegal to leave a car running here in the street in glasgow for a few years now.

I have no idea if its a country wide law or just a law enforced my councils.

Re: 'idling offence'
 

This is an exchange about the amount of time it takes to clear a widescreen. The assumption has already been made that the engine is running.

The air condition system does not have an "engine," it uses a compressor, which is driven by a belt from the crank pulley. An engine is a machine that uses compression to produce energy or power.