Idle thoughts

As I watched the line up of cars waiting at the drive thru for Tim Horton’s this morning while I walked our dog in Penner Park, I couldn’t help but wonder why Canadians like to spend so much time burning gas and going nowhere?

Amazing as it sounds Canadians spend a total of over 75 million minutes each day idling. That’s the same as one vehicle left idling for 144 years! For haulage vehicles it is even worse with estimates of around $1800 in diesel fuel wasted per vehicle each year.

Though financial costs of fuel are significant, the real costs to communities are certainly much higher. Vehicles at idle are not working very efficiently so give off much greater levels of pollutants than when running at highway speeds. Levels of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides all rise when vehicles are left to idle. Along with these harmful gases, microscopic particulates are also a problem, implicated in a wide range of respiratory illness and even cancers. For anyone with asthma there is further bad news. The chemicals in tailpipe emissions react to form ozone which has been highlighted as a bronchial-restrictor, precipitating lethal asthma attacks.

Tailpipe emissions are also implicated in a wide range of impacts on the natural environment. Although emissions from power station have mostly been cleaned up nitrous oxides from vehicles are still causing acid rain, harming our lakes, river and forests. Ground level ozone harms plants, reducing growth and killing new shoots and of course, burning gas while going nowhere further adds to our greenhouse gas emissions.

To add insult, leaving your car to idle is not actually a very good way of warming it up! Even in the coldest of weather modern engines only need 30 seconds of idling before oil is circulating properly and they are ready to drive. At such low engine speeds it takes a very long time before the coolant is warm enough to heat the passenger compartment. Better to put on a hat and gloves or buy a model with heated seats, a standard feature of in cars in Scandinavian countries.

As well as costing you gas money, leaving your vehicle to idle may actually be shortening its life. Low engine speeds cause damaging deposits to build up within the engine reducing performance and increasing maintenance costs. Idling also results in water produced by combustion to collect in the exhaust system causing corrosion and costly failure.

Better then to start your car and drive away immediately. Instead of waiting in the drive thru, park your car and visit the store. You may even find that you get your double –double more quickly. For shorter journeys walking and cycling are your better option. Round town your car engine will never get warm enough to be working efficiently so better not to use it. Take advantage of our beautiful sunny Manitoba winter’s to get a boost to your vitamin D levels and spend the money you are saving on a present for someone you love.

Chris Randall