YP Letters: A key move in the struggle to reduce pollution

Can more be done to cut congestion and pollution on the region's roads?

REPORTS that motorists are to be banned from leaving their vehicle engines running outside 20 schools in Sheffield are good news indeed. Such measures should be extended.

I has always puzzled me why anyone would want to waste fuel anyway: you only have to turn a key. As a tight-fisted Yorkshire motorist, I have always switched off the engine at every opportunity, often in slow moving traffic. Or have I missed something?

Does wear and tear on starter-motors and a drain on the battery offset the savings on fuel? If anyone can provide an explanation, I would be very interested.

Yes, I’m being disingenuous but shouldn’t the matter of pollution override all other considerations?

Incidentally, I sometimes see bus drivers leaving the engine running at the terminus while relaxing with a cigarette or snack.

From: Andrew Mercer, Guiseley.

HAVING had to drive back from Manchester late at night, why aren’t motorway closures for roadworks advertised in advance and should traffic lights in urban areas, like Leeds, be switched off at night to cut pollution caused as cars stop unnecessarily?