No idling signs

11th April 2020

Switch engine off sign, Knaresborough — Please switch engine off, Conyngham Hall, Knaresborough

All over Harrogate Borough, every day, lots of drivers stop for long periods and leave their engines running.

Very often, the driver is absorbed in their mobile phone, sending and receiving messages. It also happens a lot on double yellow lines, where drivers feel they have to leave their engines running to 'prove' they haven't parked.

The pollution and CO2 emissions created are completely avoidable. Exhaust fumes damage human health, so priority should be given to preventing idling:

in the town centre, and
outside schools

Places where there is a lot of unnecessary idling include:

in the loading bay at Prospect Square and the parking spaces on Cambridge Crescent
Cambridge Road
Tower Street
at taxi ranks including on Station Parade

I'd like to request 'no idling' signs in these places, and anywhere else that Area 6 thinks they are needed.

Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) is supportive, but says that it is the responsibility of the Highways Authority. The sign pictured is at Conyngham Hall, Knaresborough, on HBC-owned land. As HBC already have such signs, could NYCC use their signs, rather than duplicating the work?

Could the taxi licensing authority work with taxi drivers to prevent unnecessary idling?