Ray Ring

Senior Editor

Pat McGavran, an Idaho Statesman reader, has written a column about all the people who leave their engines idling while they go into latte shops etc etc etc etc …

Among McGavran’s points:

Idling excuse/myth: Continually turning the engine on and off is bad for the car.

Fact: Frequent restarting has little impact on engine components (battery, starter) but excessive idling can damage cylinders, foul spark plugs and corrode the exhaust system.

Idling excuse: Starting the car uses more fuel than letting it idle.

Fact: Idling for 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting. Every 15 minutes of idling wastes a quarter of a gallon of fuel and idling for 10 minutes each day costs 22 gallons or $66 a year.

McGavran also says, with modern vehicles, you don’t need to warm up your engine in cold weather.

She’s begun a campaign to ask idlers to PLEASE TURN OFF THE ENGINES!

I’ve been tempted to make the same request, countless times. Idling is one of my pet peeves, for reasons such as: Air pollution in our Western cities gets worse and worse. We fight wars over fuel supplies. Idling exemplifies some bad character traits (selfishness and insistence on personal comfort regardless of impacts).

I see the idlers everywhere. Those not behind the wheel are all types New West, Old West, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, and so on and on and on.

McGavran’s column is here. Maybe, inspired by her, I’ll finally get the gumption to ask some to turn it off — trying to be polite about it — and maybe you’ll consider doing the same?