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Apparently, a number of people are getting a clue about not talking or texting while driving, but I think it's being replaced by another dumb, wasteful habit: sitting around burning fuel while talking or browsing on their smartphones. I see this constantly, and it's often done in moderate weather. They get totally absorbed in their "mobile devices," and at night their lights are usually on while they sit for 10, 15 or 30 minutes, wasting the filaments.
Do they realize it's not safe to be moving, but can't be bothered to turn off their engines? Are they idling because they don't care about pollution or oil depletion? Oil is finite at any price but people treat it like it's expendable when the price drops temporarily. I think this phone-idling phenomenon could end up rivaling the waste of diesel fuel by truckers and bus drivers.
It would take a matter of seconds to kill the engine and lights, but no, the "mobile device" is far more important than Earth's depleting resources and CO2 contributions to AGW. All that matters is the little universe of the wired-in user.
Apparently, a number of people are getting a clue about not talking or texting while driving, but I think it's being replaced by another dumb, wasteful habit: sitting around burning fuel while talking or browsing on their smartphones. I see this constantly, and it's often done in moderate weather. They get totally absorbed in their "mobile devices," and at night their lights are usually on while they sit for 10, 15 or 30 minutes, wasting the filaments.
Do they realize it's not safe to be moving, but can't be bothered to turn off their engines? Are they idling because they don't care about pollution or oil depletion? Oil is finite at any price but people treat it like it's expendable when the price drops temporarily. I think this phone-idling phenomenon could end up rivaling the waste of diesel fuel by truckers and bus drivers.
It would take a matter of seconds to kill the engine and lights, but no, the "mobile device" is far more important than Earth's depleting resources and CO2 contributions to AGW. All that matters is the little universe of the wired-in user.
I don't get the hate for idling. Everyone leaves something on when they're not using it - don't be a hypocrite. Do you unplug all your electronics when you don't use them? Do you shut heat and A/C vents when you leave a room in your house?
It can also be a safety item.
If it is dark, leaving the lights on marks the vehicle so it is visible, and maybe nobody will run into it (That IS why they are called "parking lights" after all!).
If they happened to stop in a, shall we say, "less than desirable neighborhood", if the engine is running they are prepared for a quick get away should such become necessary.
It can also be a comfort thing. Just because YOU don't consider it to be cold enough to justify keeping the heater going, or hot enough to justify the air conditioning, doesn't mean that others agree!
It isn't YOUR vehicle, and YOU aren't buying the fuel for it, so why do you care?
Oh, right, the POLLUTION! B.S.! The amount of pollution generated by idling a vehicle for a few minutes isn't worth the concern you are giving it! You create more CO2 by using a stovetop percolator to make your morning coffee or cook your meals!
I could care less if what they do to themselves...
But some of these IDIOTS will sit idling in their car right in the middle of an outgoing driveway for a business - oblivious to other cars who want to leave. With one, I got out of my car, walked up to her car, and stared at her through her window. After about 15 seconds she finally looked up, got a silly look on her face, and waved - then drove off.
i was sitting a a stop lite recently and a fellow in a car next to me was texting away with his head down not paying attention to anything .. i lunged my car about three forward and he never looked up and speed off thru the still red light .. luckily no one hit him ... idiot ...
I might be one of those dumb people. I'm a property inspector and will visit 10-25 properties per day. All the photos I take and all the text that I write goes into my iPhone. All my orders are on my iPhone. I send in the property reports after each inspection. I also use Google maps to find the properties and plan my routes. I don't mess with my phone while driving (except to answer calls on the car's blue tooth), so you'll find me parked, texting away to complete my inspection or planning my route.
At each inspection I'll take 10 to 100 photos, so I've got to have my phone plugged in and charging between properties. To charge the phone, I've got to have the engine running. Kapish?
I might be one of those dumb people. I'm a property inspector and will visit 10-25 properties per day. All the photos I take and all the text that I write goes into my iPhone. All my orders are on my iPhone. I send in the property reports after each inspection. I also use Google maps to find the properties and plan my routes. I don't mess with my phone while driving (except to answer calls on the car's blue tooth), so you'll find me parked, texting away to complete my inspection or planning my route.
At each inspection I'll take 10 to 100 photos, so I've got to have my phone plugged in and charging between properties. To charge the phone, I've got to have the engine running. Kapish?
That is different from what I am seeing new and what they are talking about above. Forever and ever business people or trades people have sat in their vehicles in front of a house or business and filled out paperwork - UPS guy, plumber, workman, delivery person, real estate person, etc...
But these people are parking in the middle of the street or an exit or on the road! They just stop wherever they happen to be and start texting away...
My engine shuts off when I'm idling except as needed to run the AC or heater anyway. Often if I get to a meeting early, I'll sit out in the parking lot/street for 20 minutes working on my laptop. If I have more like a half hour or more to kill, I'll usually grab a cup of coffee. Likewise if I'm in a building where the reception isn't great, I'll go to my car before uploading anything I need to do or sending longer emails that I don't want to do from my phone. On a hot day the engine may cycle on/off a few times to keep the battery charged to run the A/C. I've never seen someone stop in the middle of the street to spend five minutes texting. They'll usually pull over to the side of the road or into a parking lot to do that. If I'm on a residential street without traffic I might stop at stop sign for a few seconds to use Google Maps or load Audible/Spotify or something. Heck, I've taken naps on the side of the road leaving the car on for heat/AC.
I generally don't get why people waste so much energy obsessing over what others do. If I spent that mental energy worrying about all the people driving gas guzzlers for no apparent reason, it would drive me insane. No skin off my back if people want to drive vehicles that get less than half of what mine does. If it really bothers you for environmental reasons, just get behind raising gas taxes to actually pay for roads rather than relying on other tax revenue for most of it.
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