Pollution and air quality

Turning your engine off when waiting can help improve air quality and protect your health.

One of our key priorities to help the borough thrive is to have clean, safe and sustainable neighbourhoods. This includes tackling air pollution.

The most important local source of air pollution in the borough that we can influence is pollution caused by vehicle emissions. The primary objective of our Low Emission Strategy is to reduce these emissions in order to improve the environment and the health of our residents.

What can you do to help?

Drivers can avoid adding to unnecessary emissions by not leaving their engine running while waiting. It’s called ‘stationary idling’ and it is already an offence under the Road Traffic Act.

The facts

• Excessive idling is a waste of fuel and money, resulting in unnecessary negative environmental and health impacts
• Fuel can represent 35% of your running costs, maybe even more
• Air pollution is linked to 40,000 early deaths in the UK each year
• People inside cars can be exposed to higher levels of air pollution than pedestrians or cyclists using the same road.
• Children and the elderly are especially at risk of harmful effects of air pollution.
• An idling vehicle emits much more pollution than one travelling at 30mph.
• For each litre of fuel used by a diesel engine, 2.64 kg of CO₂ is released into the atmosphere.
• Fleet operators can expect fuel savings of up to 5% by adopting anti-idling practices

Enforcing idling vehicles

Council officers have powers to enforce stationary idling under The Road Traffic (Vehicles Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002.

Drivers who leave their engines running may be asked by a civil enforcement officer to switch off their engine.

If a driver does not comply with a request, they may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice if the offence takes place on the highway or Penalty Charge Notice if it takes place in a council owned car park. These regulations cover all vehicles on public roads including private cars, motorbikes, delivery vehicles, taxis and buses.

They do not apply to vehicles:

• Moving slowly due to road works or congestion
• Stopped at traffic lights
• Under test or repair
• Where the windscreen is being defrosted
• Where machinery on a vehicle requires the engine to be running. For example compaction equipment in a refuse vehicle or a tail lift that cannot be operated by the battery on board

Fixed Penalty and Penalty Charge Notices

The full penalty amount for a Fixed Penalty Notice is £40. The reduced penalty charge is £20 if paid within 28 working days. After 56 days the driver may be prosecuted for the offence and if convicted could receive a larger fine up to £1000.

A Penalty Charge Notice is £50 and is reduced to £25 if paid within 14 calendar days. Unpaid charges can ultimately be passed to an Enforcement Agency to recover, who will add their own costs.

Anti-idling myth busting

Idling gets you nowhere. Here we are clearing up some common misconceptions about engine idling.

Remember, as well as wasting fuel (and money), unnecessary engine idling means harmful vehicle pollution is released into the atmosphere, which is bad for the environment and our health.