A WGIL listener/reader recently asked: I often see City of Galesburg vehicles left running even when there is nobody in them. Why is that?
For the answer, we turned to Cathy St. George, Administrative Services Manager for the City of Galesburg, who compiled some insight from various city departments.
Maybe you just notice city vehicles more
In some specific situations, City of Galesburg vehicles idle; however, outside of those scenarios discussed below, city vehicles purposely do not remain running while not in active use. Interestingly, due to selective attention, it’s more likely that people will notice or take note of a vehicle idling or actively being used in some capacity. At any given moment, we are all subject to a lot of sensory information and are more likely to notice and remember something that we find interesting or out of the ordinary, while the expected, such as a parked vehicle, tends to blend into the background unnoticed.
Some police, fire vehicles left running for a reason
City vehicles are not left idling when it can be avoided, as it reduces fuel costs, promotes energy conversation, reduces air pollution, and extends the longevity of the vehicle life.
That being said, there are times when idling is both needed and recommended, based on equipment needs as well as public safety. Examples of this include Fire Department vehicles utilized at emergency scenes in which the power from the vehicle is needed for the equipment, such as fire pumps, scene lights, etc.
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The Police Department utilizes hybrid vehicles, and always leaves their K9 vehicles running for the safety of the K9 officers. Police squad cars also contain specialized computers and equipment which are required to be temperature controlled and could drain the battery if the vehicle was powered down.
It is very important for squad cars to be able to quickly respond to an emergency, and idling protects against the vehicle not starting due to a dead battery from the electrical and computer components draining the battery.
Is it really a city vehicle?
It is also important to note that often times, other official vehicles are mistakenly identified as city vehicles, such as county vehicles, state vehicles, or many other vehicles that include some type of seal or similar marking. Other institutions may have their own policy or practice regarding idling vehicles that could differ from the city.
When appropriate, they are not left idling
In summary, the answer is both yes and no – sometimes equipment or emergency response necessitates idling of city vehicles, but when not required, the City of Galesburg intentionally selects to not idle city vehicles as it is an important contribution to protecting our environment, as well as being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.
Do you have a question about something in Galesburg? Email news@wgil.com.
