LogFAQs > #950016536

LinkPizza posted...

I dont think Ive ever heard this.

https://www.edf.org/attention-drivers-turn-your-idling-engines

First result I could find, and even that's pretty old. The 15 second thing was second-hand information from my dad, years before I even started driving, so it doesn't surprise me that this more recent source is saying 10, nor would it surprise me if the magic number is even lower than that now. There was a time when starting an engine burned much, much more gas than idling it, but that was in the days of carburetors. Modern fuel injectors are vastly more efficient than those were.

LinkPizza posted...

Nor have I seen anyone turn off their car waiting for a train or red light...

Red lights are uncommon (unless it's a car that automatically shuts off and restarts, which is a thing now), but I frequently see people turning off cars for trains, unless it's obvious that it will have passed soon. It's just wasted gas not to (again, outside of keeping warm in winter). I've also sometimes turned the car off in lineups for drive-thrus or other such places where I might not be moving for a minute or two.

---

This is my signature. It exists to keep people from skipping the last line of my posts.