I have seen many motorists leaving their cars idle with the engines running to enjoy the air-conditioning. This commonly occurs outside shopping malls and schools where parents are waiting to pick up their children, as well as at hospitals and carparks where taxi drivers take a break.

Just this week, on a short walk within the Singapore General Hospital, I saw three cars and two vans parked with their engines idling and the drivers inside.

Worse, I have seen empty cars parked with the engines still on. I presume that the air-conditioning is turned on in the car, so that it is cool when the owners return.

Not only are these drivers contributing to air pollution and climate change, they are breaking the law. 

Under the Environmental Protection and Management (Vehicular Emissions) Regulations, it is illegal for drivers to leave engines running when their vehicles are stationary for reasons other than traffic conditions.

Fines for the second or subsequent offence were beefed up in June 2016, rising from S$70 to S$100. An errant motorist who does not pay this composition fine can face a court fine of up to S$5,000.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said then that the higher penalty was necessary after an uptick in such offences, with the number of enforcement cases rising from 3,200 in 2013 to 5,100 to 2015.

In 2016, this shot up to more than 6,000 cases, before dropping to 4,800 or so in 2017.

These numbers, however, may not reveal the extent of the problem since many could have gone unreported.

The frequency of spot checks and enforcement by NEA is also unclear. A drop in enforcement cases could simply be due to fewer checks being done.

Could NEA provide more information on these, as well as the number of public complaints or reports of such cases, as it had previously encouraged such reporting of errant motorists?

Alongside the stiffer fines in 2016, NEA had said that it would raise awareness among motorists of the regulations as part of efforts to tackle the problem.

Based on my recent observations of how prevalent this is on our roads, I am of the view that NEA’s efforts have not worked.

I hope NEA and the Land Transport Authority will devise a new campaign to educate motorists to stop contributing to air pollution and climate change, following which the law should be strictly enforced.

It may also be necessary to increase the fines to S$300 for the first offence to serve as a strong deterrent.

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