You may have seen a couple of J. Saving’s guest posts here at CleverDude.com in the last couple weeks. Well, in a turn of events, J needed some guest posts to cover for him while he’s out on his honeymoon. I obliged and offered up:
“Save Money, Save Gas, Save Your Car’s Engine When Idling”
I look at a too common practice of just letting your car run needlessly while waiting to pick someone up, etc., as well as starting your car earlier than you’re ready to pull away.
And don’t get me started on all those big rigs and dump trucks idling, although I will admit that diesel engines have a tougher time starting up than their gasoline counterparts. I wonder how many people idle just because they’re not the ones footing the gas bill (that goes for all drivers).
I started doing this occasionally for lights I knew would last at least two minutes after seeing you do it a few times. Then I stopped when I talked about the idea with a co-worker who said he was ticketed for it ($100 fine). Apparently in most states it’s illegal to turn off your engine while in traffic on a public street.
How would they know you turned off your engine vs it stalling? I mean sure, my truck is new so the chances of it stalling are minimal, but I don’t see how a cop could prove I turned it off, even if he heard me starting it back up. Perhaps I should get a stick shift vehicle and say I stalled it while pulling forward.