UK:Drivers could face £20 fine for leaving engines running in traffic jams

UK: Drivers could face £20 fine for leaving engines running in traffic jams

www.mailonsunday.co.uk

Motorists could face £20 spot fines if they leave their engines running while stuck in traffic.

Traffic wardens will be able to issue the penalties - after a warning - in a bid to cut down on pollution.

A pilot scheme is due to be launched in January in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, and will be expanded if it proves successful. West Sussex Council said it would target areas where exhaust emissions build up unnecessarily, such as rail crossings and town centres.

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Related News Links:
www.timesonline.co.uk
www.telegraph.co.uk

[edit on 17/9/08 by Yossarian]

I can see how switching your rngine off when in a traffic jam is a good idea but fining somebody who doesn't do this is ridiculous. What if your car has a habit of cutting out? Starting it up might be a problem and cause a traffic jam. Also having a line of cars "parked" (which is what they would be) on the road would be confusing for pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists. How do they know what cars are parked and what cars are in traffic and what direction the cars might move in next.

www.mailonsunday.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Oh good, another government scam to rip off the already heavily burdened and taxed motorist. If you need to use a vehicle you might as well just give the authorities all your money to start with and save them the bother of making up these ridiculous laws.

More interestingly, would that be classified as being parked and permitting you to talk on your mobile without being penalised/fined!! haha

Another absolutely stupid law I'd hazard a guess starting the car would be more polluting than letting it tick over for a start most stops at traffic lights at least here I'd guess would be about thirty seconds I can see some cars struggling to start for a longer length of time.

This is just another excuse to squeeze more money out of people in my opinion
I can't see any other reason for it.

If you turn your engine off in the traffic is that considered "parked" by law? If so, doesn't that mean you could be fined for parking illegally? I'd like to see how they enforce this.

I don't see how they are going to be able to police this rule effectively, seeing as, well you know, a traffic jam is a traffic jam
And if there's a jam you would hope the police would be working to fix it, not pursuing the odd motorist who doesn't wish to constantly turn his engine on and off thus causing wear and wasting petrol.

reply to post by Yossarian


Good point. How would they define a traffic jam? How long must you be stationary before this law is effective? And what if you see traffic far ahead starting to move? This would be very hard to define and enforce... haha good luck to them....or shall I rather say...Good luck to the poor drivers who will fall victim to these fines!

Its as absurd, as fining someone for leaving a light on in an unoccupied room!

HMM another brainy scheme from the muppets in Government. It's going to be like the 'use your mobile phone whilst driving' law...

It doesn't matter , the traffic warden (re. little hitler) will have to be in the right place at the right time to catch a motorist with his engine running... No one is going to be able to monitor it anyway. Sure there might be a few 'unlucky' ones caught if it comes into force but who'll police it?
And besides how can they prove that your engines running ?
Picture this :

Your waiting at a rail crossing for the barriers to rise. the yellow helmeted bandit rushes over to see if he can get extra money in addition to his parking ticket commission, he finds you stopped and waiting. and then what?

is he going to stick a pipe up your exhaust to see if its running?
this pipe will have to be connected to a machine to not only check to see if your engines running but also to see if its one of the cars that actually pollutes and adds to the air quality being poor.

or will he place his hand on your hood and feel for vibrations? that itself needs a machine to check the vibrations.

of will he kneel down and inhale from the exhaust pipe?

Or will he simply yell at you" your running your engine , I'm fining you"and issue a ticket?
You can say , My engine was off and so were my electrics" and it'll go to court and no one is in the right and its a waste of taxpayers money .
And unless the warden has scientific proof to back up his accusation its no way going to be legal.

Its a mad scheme to stick another tax on the innocent motorist who's taxed to the nuts anyway by a greedy Government...
I agree with the turning off when stationary and I do turn off my engine when I'm stuck in traffic or knowing I'm about to be stuck for a while mainly because like most people I can't really afford to keep paying the overpriced motionpotion prices.

in the winter the exhaust gives of a telltale white smoke.. our government wants to take every penny we have...im mostly a happy person but these last few years have started to drag me down..i think to myself what happened to our country where being able to drink \ smoke \ drive where a joy but now seam to be only for the rich... savings in the bank are being spent to pay bills etc...immigrants are in every shop \ pub \ business \ both sides of the counter..streets and houses are full of them..weekly stabbings or traffic accidents involving immigrants and all our government can think about is stealing more money from us....i feel sorry for the young of Britain who will inherit this once great country from this generation...

Personally, I think it's a good idea. Britain's roads are buggered - there's too much traffic for the roads to handle and subsequently traffic jams are a reality of day-to-day motoring.

At present, there's no realistic way of getting traffic off the road. If you align yourself to any conspiracy theory about pricing vehicles off the road, despite astronomical fuel prices, fines for this, that and the other and so on, it's not really working is it?

If traffic isn't going to come off the road, it makes sense to at least look at some of the ramifications of so much traffic such as the pollution.

However, as has already been pointed out, I think this will be almost impossible to enforce. Who will enforce it? There would need to be fantastic numbers of traffic wardens to enforce this. Although, my inner tin-foil hat wearer is screaming over the idea that some kind of thermal cameras used in conjunction with the already omnipresent speed cameras may be vaunted as an alternative to even more traffic wardens. I'm thinking specifically of the looooong motorway traffic jams here.

Checked this out further and I've discovered the following: (According to the Highway Code at:www.direct.gov.uk...)

DO NOT stop or park

near a school entrance
anywhere you would prevent access for Emergency Services
at or near a bus or tram stop or taxi rank
on the approach to a level crossing/tramway crossing
opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space
near the brow of a hill or hump bridge
opposite a traffic island or (if this would cause an obstruction) another parked vehicle
where you would force other traffic to enter a tram lane
where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles
in front of an entrance to a property
on a bend
where you would obstruct cyclists’ use of cycle facilities except when forced to do so by stationary traffic

I cannot however find an official definition of parking. The whole issue seems to be one huge grey area. As far as I can tell you do not need to have your engine switched off to be considered parked.

Motorists should also be aware that the legal definition of parking is to bring a motor vehicle or a trailer to a stationary position and cause it to wait for any purpose other than that of immediately taking up or setting down persons, goods or luggage.

www.onemotoring.com.sg...