The fight against air pollution will never get anywhere as long as the law against drivers parking for long periods with idling engines is not properly enforced.
On a one-hour walk, I regularly encounter an average of three or four cars parked for 15 to 20 minutes while the drivers are engrossed in their phones, with the noxious fumes from their engines pouring into the lungs of passers-by.
I dread to think what effect this must have on the lungs of babies and young children who are on a level with the exhaust pipe, and yet it is particularly prevalent at the school gates.
If this situation were to be addressed it would bring huge benefits to air quality, protect health and save vast amounts being spent on NHS treatments.
Mary Forster
Editor’s reply
Dear Mary
I agree: It is an extraordinarily selfish thing to do, but unfortunately almost impossible to police. I recall accompanying Councillor Clyde Loakes on one of the first anti-idling patrols (in Walthamstow) four years ago.
He asked one parent to turn her car’s engine off, but received a volley of abuse.
“School streets”, which fine parents for driving to the school gates, are on the increase. But the solution is surely to recognise that the school run should only be about walking, cycling or scooting.
Ross Lydall, City Hall Editor
Met got it wrong at Everard vigil
Was it really necessary for police to arrest women who came to mourn Sarah Everard at Clapham Common? Even the Duchess of Cambridge put in an appearance in solidarity. Despite the risk of Covid, this was an exceptional event and given that a Met officer had been charged with murder, it called for a less heavy handed and a more tolerant approach.
Dominic Shelmerdine
