Australia

Why Idle Off Matters

Idling pollutes the air wherever it happens, but near schools and childcare centres it’s especially harmful, because children are right there, walking, playing, and breathing in exhaust at close range.

Children are most at risk:

• Kids’ lungs are still developing, and they breathe more air relative to their body size than adults.
• Short-term exposure to traffic pollution can trigger asthma attacks and respiratory irritation, while repeated exposure can affect lung, heart, and brain development.
• An idling car can produce concentrated pollutants that linger at breathing height — leaving an engine running near a child can be equivalent to smoking a cigarette around them.

I first read about the campaign from this article: “You smell it:” Fumes from idling SUVs queuing at school are killing our children.

The anti-idling project at the Clovelly school started with an audit finding that roughly 50 per cent of cars remain running while waiting. Conducted during temperate autumn months, the findings suggest idling can be habitual rather than a necessity for air conditioners or heaters.

In Australia, air pollution was attributed to 1.3 per cent of the total disease burden and linked to more than 3200 deaths in 2018.

More details from Melbourne University