Idling vehicles and pollution
You’d think, with all the current publicity on the effects of pollution on people's health, particularly from transport and particularly on young children, that people would be more conscious of the need to turn their engines off when they're waiting (in any case, it’s illegal: it's an offence against the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002). Even Wandsworth, always slow to act on such issues, is starting (albeit very half-heartedly) to take it seriously.
But there, today, outside St Mary’s (primary) school, was a car with its engine running. I politely suggested that, since he was outside a school, the driver turn his engine off; his response: to mutter something that sounded unpleasant and to wind his window up, leaving the engine running. Finally, whilst I was taking a photo of his car, he did turn it off, but very bad-temperedly - and then got out to pick up a child from the school he’d just been polluting!
Clearly, there's a long way to go in educating (some) drivers...
Richard Carter ● 2675d88 Comments