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At schools, we don't just need to think about buses idling. Every morning and afternoon there are many parents picking up or dropping off their children, sitting around with their engines idling. In the morning, idling is not usually as much of a problem, as during the afternoon. This is due to the parents or caregivers just dropping the children off and then moving on. In the afternoon however, some parents arrive 10-15 minutes before school is out and sit with their engines idling. Depending upon the size and layout of the school, parent idling can become a serious problem. The larger the school, the more parents and caregivers are likely to arrive to pick up children. Some schools are arranged in a way that cars may be lined up close to the exits so that students walk straight into the fumes. In other schools, due to the number of students being picked up, some vehicles may be blocked in for a period, and sit with engines idling. Health Cars and SUVs release a number of air pollutants into the air that are detrimental to health. These include sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO) and toxics such as mercury. Besides direct effects on respiratory and cardiovascular health, some of these chemicals also combine in the atmosphere to produce acid rain and ground-level ozone or smog. Why People Idle There are many reasons why people idle their vehicles, such as to listen to the radio, convenience, parked illegally, or to keep the heat/a.c. on. Another reason is because people often do not know the facts about idling, such as, 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it. Find Out More To find out more about idling vehicles, please visit our idling site, which has idling myths, FAQ's, health information, and much more. Links on This Clean School Bus Site
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