Schools Attempt to Tackle Idling Problem

Schools are rolling out a no-idling campaign in an effort to improve environmental conditions in their surrounding areas, as Winn Solicitors take part in Clean Air Day.

The popular move is aimed at preventing parents sitting in cars with the engines running as they wait on their children coming out of the building. It comes after criticism of the air quality in the vicinity of schools, with children enduring raised air pollution levels as a result of high volumes of cars idling.

Councils in Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside have just ended an air quality public consultation as local authorities take action in an effort to tackle poor air quality in their regions.

Air pollution, according to a Public Health England report, is the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, with “between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths a year attributed to long-term exposure.”

“We therefore recommend taking a particularly focused approach on reducing the impact of air pollution on children,” the report continues. “This would suggest that local authorities…consider a range of interventions including working with children and their parents to implement no-idling zones outside schools.”

Particularly the case in winter time, as drivers try to stay warm, idling is having a large impact on the air quality, with the report calling for local authorities to “make it easy for children to walk or cycle to school.”

Winn Solicitors have encouraged their staff to find alternative transport which produces less emissions, including car-sharing, public transport or cycling and walking to work, with a special breakfast for those who take part today (June 20th).

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