Parents could be fined for idling their car engine near schools
The changes are part of new proposed laws.
By Livia Gamble
April 12 2017
It’s something many parents are guilty of but under new proposed laws, leaving your car idling while picking up and dropping off your kids at school could see you slapped with a fine.
The proposed laws are part of a plan to cut harmful vehicle emissions and improve Australia's air quality, The Age reports.
A joint submission to the Turnbull government's, Better fuel for cleaner air, says, children are especially at risk of being exposed to “high levels of noxious chemicals” as driving kids to school has become a preference for many parents.
"Schools and childcare centres are often placed on or near busy roads, exposing a particularly vulnerable subset of our population to daily pollution concentrations much higher than those reflected by the [general area]," the paper says.
"Targeting schools with 'anti-idling zones' is a natural starting point in reducing acute exposures to children during their commute to school."
Speaking to The Age, co-submission author Clare Walter said: "It always makes me laugh when I see parents outside schools strapping their children into the very best of car seats, and they're European cars because they're safer, and they've got the engine running and the doors open."
"It's not their fault, they are just completely unaware."
