Texas Anti-Idling Rules are Due for an Update
Each year in the United States, idling trucks and cars burn several billion gallons of fuel, emitting nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and greenhouse gases without driving a single mile.
In 2005, the Texas Legislature attempted to quiet the rumbling motors. That year, a law passed prohibiting vehicles larger than 14,000 pounds — a Ford F-450 or larger, for example — from idling longer than five minutes during the summertime. The move came after earlier efforts to crack down on idling in Austin, where officials were especially concerned about pollution.
Five years later, the law has had some impact, but it ...
Comments (3)
Jon Weinstein
It is too bad that, even after legislators turn their attention to this problem, it will have holes in it big enough to drive a truck through. But at least sleeping over-the-road drivers have a rationale for an idling truck. What about everyone else that leaves their vehicle idling? It seems that, as the technology of engine cooling has improved in everyone's car, and as the cellphone has become ubiquitous, the average "man on the street" uses his car as a phone booth. Large suburbs mean people work and spend a lot of time in their cars. It is common to see people sitting in vehicles in parking lots with their doors and windows rolled up, engine idling so that they can stay cool. City workers, utility company workers on job sites; they all leave their company vehicles idling during the day so that they have a cool place to run to rest or talk on the phone. Texans are going to have to face the fact that sweat comes with the territory. Idling vehicles are the enemy of a pleasant urban environment conducive to spending time outdoors.
Travis Dawson via Texas Tribune on Facebook
who cares no n0o noooo
Mac Mcclure via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Just raise the price of diesel to $10 per gallon and the trucks will stop running. As you walk to the grocery store and smell the fresh air you will wonder why the shelves are empty when you arrive.