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SALT LAKE CITY -- It started with a public awareness campaign. Now, Salt Lake City wants to bolster its efforts to stop motorists from idling with a new ordinance.
It happens every day at every elementary school in the country. Parents come to pick up kids and often wait with their car motors running.
The trouble is, Salt Lake City has a major smog problem, which researchers increasingly link to major health risks. The city wants to step up its campaign to combat it.
Now we really want to do some sort of an ordinance that says not only are we asking you but we're telling you. This is a health issue, this is an air quality issue and we really need people not to idle.
–Vicki Bennett
"Now we really want to do some sort of an ordinance that says not only are we asking you but we're telling you," says city sustainability director Vicki Bennett. "This is a health issue, this is an air quality issue and we really need people not to idle."
At this point, Salt Lake City has not identified a specific amount for an idling fine, but city officials say other cities have fines of between $50 and $400.
"Our initial time frame is probably about a two- to three-minute limit because it's been shown that at that point you're really wasting a lot more fuel than any amount that you would ever be able to save by turning the car on and off," Bennett says.
Many residents are already on board. Karmen Tester has grandchildren in elementary school.
"We have ordinances against second-hand smoking," says Dr. Brian Moench. "The air pollution created by vehicles, idling vehicles, is very similar from a health standpoint to second-hand smoke."
Meantime, the trucking industry is taking a "wait and see" approach.
"Where do you idle and where you don't idle?" says David Creer, executive director of the Utah Trucking Association. "Weather conditions, what kind of load you have on, what kind of truck you have, what size truck you have. We want clean air, and I think we would support what we can once we see what the actual ordinance looks like."
The plan could make a first offense a warning. Later offenses would bring a fine.
The city says it's no idle threat. The governor declared September as "Idle Free Awareness Month" and the city will officially launch the project this week.
It will soon take public comment.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
