'Idlers' call for action !
A bit of an appeal to those of you that leave your vehicles running or ‘idling’ unnecessarily wherever, but particularly on our beautiful Caravan Club Sites and CL’s – please think of the effect you are having before doing this!
I recently witnessed a Caravaner leave his vehicle running for some 15 minutes while he set up his outfit – yes I should have approached him, but really didn’t want a bad atmosphere with a new neighbour.
Please take a look at the excellent appeal set by Nigel Havers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQW0jrPdhec
Thanks for reading – I’d be interested on the CAMC position on this issue, which seems to occur far too often….
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Particularly pertinent when waiting at railway crossings as well.
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The ones that get to me around here are the buses; why where we have to have start stop built into our cars can't the buses in the populated conurbations, that do more stopping that us and have bigger engines apply the same technology?
Within Winchester in particular it is dreadful.
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Ocsid, talk to the bus company. For a few years now, the big bus companies on Merseyside have been buying new buses with stop/start and hybrid technology.. The technology is there and in buses.
I was once told off by a German for leaving my engine running for a few minutes. Never forgotten; he taught me a good lesson.
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I did a lot of work on this for the bus company I worked for in London.
All our vehicles, wherever possible, were programmed to auto shut down after 3 minutes, (driver had to restart it) you have to consider though a bus is not like a car, there is invariably a heavy demand on its electrical and other systems to operate lighting, doors, access ramps, passenger heating & cooling. Also some systems need to re boot if stopped. So having a stop / start like a car is a lot more complicated or you end up with flat batteries. Hybrid buses are better at this because of the massive amounts of battery power available. Even then a hybrids system will restart it if it sees the battery reserves going below a set level regardless of if its moving or not.
I can assure you, that if it is possible to do, companies will do anything they can to save on fuels cost, If you can save 1/2 a litre on every journey and you run a large fleet that can be a big saving. Some 6 years ago my companies annual fuel bill was in excess of £30M so any small % of fuel saved equated to significant amount of money. Sometimes things are not as Black & White as they seem.
We even invested a Millions in Telematics, each vehicle being equipped. Drivers could then be monitored and were banded Red, Amber or Green on their driving skills. Especially on heavy acceleration and harsh braking and were "Advised" by their mangers about the error of their ways and impact on the company profits
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very true HD, why can't just people let others live and holiday the way they want? It's their fuel they are using up (hope this doesn't get green again)
Also yes I should have approached him
what? really? and say what? would you do that with your neighbour at home? at the supermarket? Perhaps he'll come across and approach you about using your pitch the way you want? too many lights on?
wow
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The only time it's any one else's business is when they are directly affected. I once left my engine running when I parked for a moment to speak to a passing neighbour. An angry German came out from his camper and told me off. In all fairness to him, I had been exhausting under his vehicle and he was getting the fumes in his camper. Absolutely my fault. I've been more conscious of it since then.
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The worst cases I've seen is the hoards of drivers ( usually females ) clogging up the roads outside primary schools, waiting for their little darlings, with their engines ticking over and poisoning all the other children as they walk past those vehicles on exiting the school gates.
Don't know if the drivers are caravanners or not, but they generally drive highly polished Chelsea tractors equipped with towbars.
K
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OH has just changed the timing belt and water pump on the car, he has left it running to clear the air from the heater, hope he's not annoying the neighbours 😲😲😲😲
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There will always be some with the knowledge of how oil can cook in a hot turbo that will leave their car ticking over after towing, me included. Five minutes is usually enough which is plenty of time for the wife to book in at reception.
Just the once I had a warden ask me to switch off the engine outside a site reception and I politely explained I'd rather not for a few more minutes, giving him the reason why which he was perfectly ok with.
A new turbo on my car is a £2 grand job because the car has to be split in half, a few minutes on tickover after coming to a halt is a small price to pay for the extra little bit of fuel consumed. There's no need to leave it ticking over after parking on the pitch though, the 5 minutes outside reception is plenty enough tick cool time.
Cars with stop start usually have water cooled turbos so they don't need cooling time, the turbos on my car are oil lubricated and oil cooled so it's always a good idea to let them idle before switching off
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"I’d be interested on the CAMC position on this issue, which seems to occur far too often…."
I'd be amazed if the club has even given this a thought, let alone have a position on it. I expect, like most matters, they assume members are sensible adults who aren't in need of guidance on trivial points such as when to turn their engines off.
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Jonny Funnell I'm with you on this one and share your concerns. It's a practice that I find extremely irritating, not only on campsites but out and about in general. Reading the replies here, there seems to be a common feeling of bewilderment that anyone should regard this as an issue, together with a sense of entitlement that you should be able to leave your engine idling for as long as you like. No consideration at all for those in the vicinity who have to endure the noise and the toxic fumes. In my opinion, a very selfish practice. A couple of minutes is reasonable, even for those concerned about their turbos, more than that is not.
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You might be right, MB, it might be selfish, or it might not but either way it's not something I would expect the club to take a stance on. We are all adults and capable of making decisions for ourselves. We surely all consider others, don't we?
To condemn those who don't do things the way that suits you as partaking of a selfish practice is putting yourself on the moral high ground.
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Please someone tell me it's a wind up.............😵 or is it going to run & run & run 😇
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Personally I find the Stop /Start technology a pain in the A frame!! Now that the alternators and starter motors are all in one, continual use of the starter is going to wear it out in short order and they ain't cheap! I turn mine off. I can decide when to kill the engine.
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Nice to see that some people are prepared to hold their hands up and admit guilt. I also agree with the attitude of HD and others who just get on with it and live and let live.
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Since so many of the Club's members do not see that dogs peeing everywhere on pitches is pollution we are unlikely for them to notice vehicle exhausts at all.
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As a half Scot, half Yorkshireman with short arms and deep pockets I switch off to save money....... I am astounded how many people literally have money to burn...... but having said that it has never remotely crossed my mind to complain to anyone letting their engine idle.
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That is a complete myth put about by dog owners to justify their (in)actions. The actual timescale is about 18 months.
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I expected a thread about pollution to be hijacked to attack Dog owners-& there ya go, more intolerance.
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You've got to laugh at it really R2B, their that desperate to get a dig in
As far as I'm concerned they are just making themselves look silly, Of course that's only my personal opinion
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