Start of School Term Isn’t the Time to be Idle

Beware school run glares as you recommence the daily drop-off and pick-up outside your child’s primary school, if you are in the very bad habit of leaving your engine running as you do so!

A survey from telematics specialist, HH Driveright, has found that nearly 55% of people (54.4%) say they feel that parents who leave their engines running outside school are “irresponsible”.

Those in the east of England, the southwest and Wales felt even more strongly about this, with more than 60% of people in these areas expressing this viewpoint.

52% of people surveyed said they were worried about the impact of air pollution on children’s health.  This is one reason why engine idling is becoming socially unacceptable, alongside enhanced awareness of the negative impacts that the generation of unnecessary emissions has on the environment and climate change.

The facts speak for themselves and back up the viewpoint of those who frown on engine idling.  An hour of idling, undertaken each day during the course of driving about – including on the school run - can create 3100.5kg of CO2 per year.   This has a negative effect on our health and on that of our children.

Whilst it may be easy to sit with the engine running, whilst making sure the youngsters get into school safely, it is an expensive habit.  An hour of engine idling a day also wastes up to 4.5 litres of fuel, at a cost of £7.87 daily.  

Despite the negative health, environmental and financial impacts of engine idling, 38% of those who completed the HH Driveright survey admitted they never turn off their engines, unless parked up.   Millions of vehicles are generating wholly unnecessary emissions every day. 

There is also a lack of awareness relating to the fact that engine idling is prohibited by rule 123 of the Highway Code. This rule states that drivers must not leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine running, or leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while the vehicle is stationary on a public road. The penalty for doing any of these things is, however, only £20, so it is down to people themselves to really elect to change their behaviours.

The situation regarding engine idling led HH Driveright to found the very first Idling Awareness Day, on May 17, 2023.  The company .has also increasingly cast the spotlight on engine idling within commercial fleets, where its GM 2020 telematics device has the capability of flagging up engine idling by fleet drivers.  Armed with such knowledge, the fleet owner or manager can tackle the issue and better educate those at the wheel.

Rebecca Hall Managing Director of HH Driveright said: “We would ask all motorists, private and commercial, to stop engine idling. This is not only costing people money but also harming the environment and people’s health.  It may not seem like a big thing to leave engines running whilst  dropping off and picking up the kids from school, but if every driver made a conscious effort to stop, it would all add up and make a big difference.  

“The time to start doing something different, and switching off the engine, could be in the next week, when the school run starts again.  Get into that one new habit and you can start to contribute to a better environment.  It could also make you more popular with other, more emissions-conscious parents and grandparents.”

To find out more about HH Driveright and its telematics solutions, visit https://www.hhdriveright.com/                                                                                      

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Editors notes

HH Driveright is an award-winning vehicle security and compliance specialist, with exciting and advanced solutions for van drivers, caravan owners and car drivers wishing to protect their vehicles, livelihood and reputation. It won the 'Keeping Your Show on the Road' award at the 2022 Logistics UK Van Awards and is continually finding ways to achieve that goal, to keep vehicles and their drivers or owners safe and protected.