Engine Idling during cold weather--info cards?

Evan

Honestly, I think you're wasting your time. Most folks are simply too brain dead to even give a s***.

Yes, I understand this is frustrating, waste of resources, bad for environment, bad for the actual MOTOR, etc. Until strict anti-idle laws are passed, not going to happen

I was at a carwash last winter and this fool in a Dodge Ram Cummins pulled into the stall next to me. He left that thing idling and I was damn near getting gassed by it. SO I finally walked around to his stall and told him to turn it the f*** off.

The guy was a scrawny little thing. He claimed it was "bad" for the motor to turn it off. I told him it would be bad for his rectum if I shoved the wash wand up his nice person and turned it on

He turned the motor off

jay

 

Jerry I like your persuasive attitude, rude as it may be perceived. Evan I think a line about personal $$$ cost at 10min/dayX5 daysX# of school days may be as persuasive as nebulous costs to the environment.

 

I made a word doc for that purpose once. I'll try to find it if I get a chance....

 

Evan, perhaps you could make some note-holders out of potatoes. If you get the correct size, they fit snugly in the end of an exhaust pipe. That way you don't have to worry about them blowing away in the wind, and there is a better than even chance that they will be noticed.

Tom

 

Here's something a little more diplomatic than Tom's and Jay's approach....

Idling Your Car

There are sites that address the consequences more comprehensively however I think this sums things up well enough and anything longer than one page without bullet points would probably be ignored. I also think people will respond better to potential costs saved by them (i.e. fuel costs saved and avoiding damage to their car) than they would about CO2 and the link hits on those points.

Lots 'o luck. I, too, believe you're fighting an uphill battle but how very noble of you.

I just thought of something. I leave my car idle at times when running quickly into a store where I can keep an eye on it. Sometimes I'll be in there for about 10 minutes as well. I do this to keep the engine warm so that I don't revert back to that dreaded 25 MPG 5 minute segment when getting back in my car but does idling drain the battery to the extent that the ICE will have to recharge it thereby netting no benefit?

 

no luck, couldn't find it. But this might help Idle Free BC | Resources

 

No. I do it all the time and the only ill effect I've noticed is that trips to the gas station are less frequent.

 

My car turns itself off when the engine isn't needed. It even does that at stoplights.

 

If it makes you feel better, please go with either of those cards. You are certainly correct in your line of thinking, and if anyone at all would respond, it would make a difference. Now ..... will it help? Sadly, the simple answer is "no-no-no". The vast majority of drivers in America won't even check their tire pressure, let alone cut the engine when it's cold outside.

Moreover, where I live, it would almost certainly lead to the vandalism of my Prius. Again, sad ...... but oh so true.

... Brad

 

Evan, just photoshop it. The only metric in there is the 4.5 l/hr bit. The rest looks like it'll work fine. You might get rid of the BC references too, but it would be easy to touch it up.

 

How is the response to the card?

I noticed you may be in the "show me" state. I was in that state of mind once here in Colorado

We are all familiar with the old saw that "actions speak louder then words" (so why waste paper?).

I suggest therefore after you have your kids safely inside, simply take the last car left running by anyone, (owner inside building with no view of you, and no passengers inside) Drive it a reasonable distance depending on your commitment to physical fitness, and safely park, and lock it.

Return the keys to the office and let them know you found them near their building and thought someone might be looking for them. If you are caught in the act (I was not), tell them someone told to you move the car(that would be me), but you are not sure why, now that it caused so much trouble.

If you are lucky the owner will already be spreading the word that they "left their car running and it disappeared" before you even get back as happened for me.

I am not sure how often you will need to repeat this feat to sufficiently spread the knowledge that it is not a reasonable risk to leave a car running unattended. (it is against the law to leave a vehicle running unattended here, but occurs frequently with little enforcement)

In the meantime you will provide a self propagating community service announcement, and get some exercise.

This advice must be followed at your own risk. It is illegal to "joy ride" in Colorado but it is required to lend assistance including moving vehicles other then your own when there is a hazard. I suspect environmental hazard is not what they had in mind when the law was written, but these are modern times, with modern hazards.

I did this once, and it worked for about 4 months at a local elementary school. I was unwilling to reinforce the original message later. They assigned one of crosswalk attendants with a cell phone to watch the running cars. (Can you believe their solution? No Parent Left Behind the wheel!)

 

So what's next? Do you also think you somehow have the right to waltz in to my house and turn down my thermostat because you deem that an evironmental hazzard also???

 

Since it's a church parking lot you could take the WWJD approach - Jesus wouldn't leave his Hummer idling, wasting fuel and polluting the environment.

Are there any real nice cars idling in that parking lot? If so, where is it? Christmas is just around the corner and I'd bet mom would like a low-mileage Lexus as a present.