October 31
...serving up your daily dish.
Montclair's Marcella Van Winden, is trying to stop air pollution by making school bus drivers aware that idling (that lasts longer than three minutes) while waiting to pick up students -- is a no-no. From the Montclair Times:
“I just want the bus drivers to turn off their engines when they are waiting for students,” Van Winden said. The mother of three was determined to inform school bus drivers about the adverse health effects associated with the diesel exhaust of an idling bus, which according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), poses one of the greatest public health risks of all air pollutants.
Each year, according to the EPA, there are nearly 400 premature deaths, 16,000 asthma attacks and 1,800 emergency-room visits in New Jersey that are directly related to diesel fuel emissions. “I don’t believe in enforcement, but this is just something we should do to protect our kids,” Van Winden said before signaling one of Renaissance’s school buses to stop so she could give the driver information about the dangers of diesel exhaust. “And it’s illegal for them to idle. I don’t know why they aren’t turning off the engines.”
Since the 1980s, it has been illegal for school buses to idle for more than three consecutive minutes, said Melinda Dower, research scientist in the Diesel Risk Reduction Program of the state Department of Environmental Protec-tion (DEP). On Monday afternoon, as the school buses continued to enter the parking lot to pick up Renaissance students, Van Winden stood by her makeshift sign similar to one sold by the DEP that read “No Idling. It’s the Law.”Most of the school bus drivers listened to Van Winden’s plea, until the last bus of the day entered school grounds and would not shut its engine.
A school official approached the bus and signaled for the driver to turn off the engine, which the bus driver did. As soon as the official stepped off the bus, however, the driver turned the vehicle back on. Six minutes and a busload of students later, that school bus pulled out of Renaissance’s parking lot.
i think she's right. i'm glad she's discussing it with the bus drivers and the schools.
Posted by: fran | Oct 31, 2005 8:50:06 AM
Ditto. And this should go for ALL buses, not just school buses.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Oct 31, 2005 10:14:38 AM
What are the issues from the drivers' point of view? Why would they prefer idling to shutting off the engine? Thanks.
Posted by: Claire | Oct 31, 2005 10:42:21 AM
>> “I don’t believe in enforcement, but this is just something we should do to protect our kids,” Van Winden said before signaling one of Renaissance’s school buses to stop so she could give the driver information about the dangers of diesel exhaust. <<
I applaud her efforts, but what does she mean, she doesn't believe in enforcement?????
Posted by: crank | Oct 31, 2005 11:14:39 AM
From the drivers point of view? Maybe they want to keep on the heat on. Is there heat in school buses? I don't know. Its been a while. Maybe they have a crappy bus and the don't know if the bus is going to start again. Any bus drivers out there?
Reason why not to have buses running idle.
1, diesel fumes are toxic and carcinogenic. 2, it wastes fuel. 3, wasting fuel increases budget costs. 4, its bad for the environment adding co2 to atmosphere negatively effecting global warming.
Posted by: lasermike026 | Oct 31, 2005 11:17:49 AM
At almost $3.00 a gallon, you'd think they'd be more cost-conscious.
Personally, I think it's just laziness and if they're worried that they won't be able to start up their vehicle if they turn it off, well, maybe said vehicle should not be out on the road.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Oct 31, 2005 11:48:54 AM
what about walking to school, biking to school, neighborhood schools? All good ways to reduce waste and lower pollutants.
Posted by: Kevin Lee Allen | Oct 31, 2005 12:10:12 PM
those are all good ways to lower pollution and encourage healthful exercise. but i think you have to live at least one and a quarter miles from the school and of course 9-12 don't get bus service. i wouldn't want to see a grade schooler walking or even bicycling a mile, especially in bad weather. because of our magnet system, many students don't live close enough to walk to their chosen schools.
Posted by: fran | Oct 31, 2005 12:49:05 PM
No offense, but I'm an old fart (by some people's standards, I s'pose) and run a lot farther than that in ALL kinds of weather.
Kids are too damn soft today.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Oct 31, 2005 1:34:51 PM
No offense, but I'm an old fart (by some people's standards, I s'pose) and run a lot farther than that in ALL kinds of weather.
Kids are too damn soft today.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Oct 31, 2005 1:35:37 PM
The downline is that ALL bus companies should INSIST that their drivers ahdere to the law about idling time for their buses.....No if's and's or but's about it?
Posted by: Franklin | Oct 31, 2005 1:36:30 PM
Idle buses are the devil's playground...or something like that.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Oct 31, 2005 1:40:36 PM
"because of our magnet system, many students don't live close enough to walk to their chosen schools"
Uh, let's rephrase that:
Because of our inscrutable and likely biased magnet system, many students don't live close enough to walk to the schools they ended up with when their first five choices were ignored.
/there, that's better.
Posted by: Appletony | Oct 31, 2005 7:16:23 PM
