By Marianne Dalton, RN
Idling is the act of leaving a car engine running while the vehicle is parked. A state law (M. G. L. Chapter 90, Section 16A), rarely enforced in Massachusetts, levies a penalty for idling unnecessarily for more than 5 minutes. The first offense is $100, and subsequent offenses are $500 each. Section 16B of the same law prohibits extended idling on school grounds with the same penalties. Why is such a law necessary?
Many buildings [such as schools] have fresh air intake systems to pull outdoor air into the indoor environment. If vehicles are idling alongside or near the building, indoor air can become polluted with exhaust (http://cleanair-stlouis.com/turn-the-key-on-vehicle-idling-for-a-healthier-school-environment/). The exhaust from idling vehicles creates “hot spots†of localized air pollution, especially when there are many cars idling in a particular area for an extended length of time. Monitoring of air quality around schools has shown spikes of different air pollutants during drop off and pick up times (https://www.becausehealth.org/why-you-shouldnt-idle-your-vehicle-in-school-zones-2639718146.html).
Children in classrooms only feet away from drop-off/pick-up areas are in-voluntarily inhaling the car exhaust of a large congregate of vehicles, every day, for an extended period of time, over the course of a school year. This long-term exposure to car exhaust has been shown to raise the risk of acquiring asthma, causing respiratory problems and other ad-verse health effects (http://cleanair-stlouis.com/turn-the-key-on-vehicle-idling-for-a-healthier-school-environment/).
Car exhaust affects children’s lungs more severely than it does adults due to various factors. The lungs of a growing child have not fully ma-tured, and children also have a more rapid rate of breathing than adults. Additionally, children breathe 50% more air per pound of body weight (https://www.washtenaw.org/DocumentCenter/View/2963/Information-Idling-at- Schools-for-Newsletter-PDF?bidId=). Children have more respir-atory infections than adults [as any parent or teacher can attest to], which also seems to increase susceptibility to air pollution (https://www.lung.org/clean-air/outdoors/who-is-at-risk/children-and-air-pollution).
If it has been established that idling is causing children’s lungs and over-all health to be at risk, what can be done? One way to curb the emissions our children are exposed to is to arrive as close as possible to the school pickup time, and simply turn off your vehicle engine when you have ar-rived and it is clear there won’t be an opportunity to move forward for more than a few minutes. When weather permits, roll down the windows for fresh air and comfort.
While the law in Massachusetts allows idling for up to 5 minutes at a time, the long-held belief that it is better for a car battery or starter to idle rather than turn off and re-start the engine is no longer true (https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/how-long-can-you-leave-your-car-running). Due to the electronic ignition used in modern vehicles as well as improvements in car batteries and starters, frequent restarting will not cause excessive wear of the battery or starter (https://www.jiffylubesocal.com/jiffy-lube-blog/2015/10/answering-the-question-to-idle-or-not-to-idle/).
Idling for longer than 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting your en-gine. Two minutes of idling uses the same amount of fuel as driving one mile. Idling vehicles emit 20 times more pollution than a car traveling at 30 mph.
(http://cleanair-stlouis.com/turn-the-key-on-vehicle-idling-for-a-healthier-school-environment/).
The Town of Winthrop already has its share of air pollution from diesel trucks and planes from Logan Airport. If drivers can alter their idling be-havior, particularly when picking up and dropping off children at school, and idle for 5 minutes or not at all (unless weather conditions such as snow/icing do not permit), it will have a positive impact on the health of our schoolchildren as well as the air quality for everyone in Winthrop. Please be cognizant of the risks posed by idling and make every reason-able effort to avoid it.
Marianne Dalton, RN, is a member of the Winthrop Board of Health.