A Parking Enforcement truck (these are part of HR police, no?) sat idling from 5-5:30pm, Tuesday evening, on Fenwick Street near Lucknow. Thirty minutes! (Maybe even longer…I just happened to walk by at both times.) The windows were open so I assume it wasn’t because the officer inside was trying to heat his vehicle. He was searching something on his fancy little laptop, but I doubt a running engine is a power supply requirement.
It would be nice to see some modern-day environmental philosophies implemented to city organizations.
The fact that this action has no legal consequences to the officer, while the choice of where a citizen parks their car in public—in THEIR city, whose employees’ salaries THEY pay for with taxes—costs them a hefty fine, is proof of the lack of understanding of the word “priorities”.
Welcome to the terrordome! —Pauline Kemp
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2010.
He was sitting waiting for someone to park illeagally so he can make someones day that much better. But they do think they are cops…..just because the stripes on the trucks are the same as cop cars……these guys are wannabe cops.
And what happened in the 28 minutes in between? Do you know? Maybe the person went in somewhere and just checking the computer before heading out. Unless you know for sure then STFU.
I saw them do this once when a car had completely blocked my driveway and I needed to go to work. They had to sit there and fill out paperwork / wait for the tow truck to come remove the offending vehicle. Chances are he was doing paperwork. And in a cold environment, yes running the engine is a requirement for power – god knows what else they have running in those trucks… and we all know the little 4 cyl ford POS trucks they use probabally won’t start if they shut them off…
This is a valid bitch.
Turn off your car if you are going to idle more than 20 seconds at a light, or anywhere else for that matter.
Stop wasting resources and causing pollution.
Government vehicles should lead by example.
easier to idle and park, than to fuck around in the cold. summertime,you got your a/c, to keep running.
If not for you – I disagree with shutting off your engine at traffic lights or when in a line of traffic. Why? Because I don’t want to be the one that causes traffic chaos if my car picks that time to not restart. A running car is also able to quickly manoever out of the way in case of an emergency vehicle or when you are trying avoid a collision (ie. rear impact). You can explain to the family who is waiting for the firetruck that he couldn’t get by because you turned off your car at the lights and it wouldn’t restart.
well I guess i’m a monster too then. I would have left my vehicle running while on the clock between duties.
Voice of Reason, you need to get a more reliable car, or take it to a mechanic.
If not for you – I keep my vehicles well maintained but every car eventually encounters a no-start at the worst possible time (ie. middle of rush hour, running late in the mornings etc.). Shit happens.
“”Turn off your car if you are going to idle more than 20 seconds at a light….”
This is bad advice from someone who clearly has not driven much or perhaps does not even own a car.
Voice of reason is 100% correct, and I would add
1) the risk of a fogged windshield
2) your running lights will go out
3) even a ‘slow” restart will cause dangerous tailbacks, and roadrage, sadly.
4) continous stopping/starting will deep cycle your battery, and it’s off to the landfill with it!
The list goes on.
I’m all for energy conservation, but let’s get it done at the macro level, please. All this nonsense about lightbulbs and idling cars at stop lights is just a bullshit placebo to placate the chattering masses while business as usual is carried out by industry…
And BTW, a plugged-in laptop is a fairly high power-consuming device, higher than any TV/DVD etc etc…and depending on the vehicle, battery and inverter used, can cause a no-start within minutes, certainly in a half hour, especially in winter
Was the enforcement truck white with blue lettering, clearly identified as parking and park patrols or was it one of the vehicles owned by the current holder of the traffic ticketing contract?
If it was the private contractor then the public no say in how they operate their vehicles, it’s just another expense that was factored into the bid.