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Don’t be idle, switch off your engine

Leaving your engine running when your vehicle is stationary is called idling. This creates air pollution. It does so by raising the levels of exhaust fumes and harmful gases in the air. Air pollution can:

  • irritate the lungs
  • lower resistance to infection
  • make conditions like asthma, heart and lung disease worse.

How you can stop idling

There are simply steps you can take to stop idling. For example, turn off your engine when you're parked up waiting for someone or stuck in traffic. Did you know you can waste fuel and increase wear and tear on your engine when you're idling.

Turn off your engine when it’s practical and safe. Doing so will help protect your health, save money, and cut air pollution.

Did you know modern vehicles make it cheaper to switch off the engine and start it again after a minute or more? This cost is less than the cost of leaving the engine running.

The facts and dispel the myths about idling

Myth: Starting an engine causes more pollution than idling.
Fact: Turning an engine off and restarting it after a minute or longer causes less pollution than keeping the engine idling and uses less fuel.

Myth: The engine needs to stay on to keep the battery fully charged.
Fact: Modern batteries need less engine running time to work and don’t need the engine on constantly to keep them charged.

Myth: It is better to idle the vehicle as turning the engine off and on wears it out.
Fact: Ignitions in modern cars have eliminated this problem. Idling dirties your engine with incomplete combustion increasing wear and tear. Maintaining your vehicle is important for preventing breakdowns and reducing air pollution.

Myth: Catalytic converters need to be hot to work properly.
Fact: Yes, but an idling engine does not keep a catalytic convertor warm. They retain their heat for about 25 minutes after an engine is switched off.

Myth: When it’s cold I need to keep my vehicle and passengers warm or warm up my engine.
Fact: It can take up to an hour for an engine to cool down. Turning off your engine on but keeping the ignition on and the fan blowing, will provide warm air for some time.

Visit the Kent Air website to get information and data about air quality around Kent.