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bikebouy - Member
Antisocial stupidity tax, at least the owner should be looking out of the kitchen window whilst "hoodyboy" slams it in reverse.Scraper & de-icer, 5mins.
You could have a fag whilst doing it.
To be fair if it's cold enough that you need a scraper and de-icer it's hardly the weather for a spot of dogging my man.
hot_fiat@jimjam, that's true for much older engines, particularly ones fitted with carbs, but modern petrol engines of any specific output (granted, a race engine is different) just need driving off as soon as they’re started, albeit with reduced throttle input.
Of course you can drive off right away. I wouldn't, and I've spoken to a a good few mechanics who own performance/modified cars who do the same. With my Subaru (which was an 02) the gearbox was one of the main factors in allowing the car to warm up. Anything fast I've driven from cold up to about 08/09 seems to be the same.
It can't be illegal to leave your car running unattended anywayIt most certainly is - if it's on the public highway.
In England 'stationary idling' is an emission offence under section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, even if you are sitting in the driver's seat. It doesn't specify that it only applies on the public highway. Since it's an 'emission offence' I assume that committing it on your own driveway makes no difference.
When I was in small town Alaska folk would leave their engines running in the car park at the cinema, to stop them freezing, resulting in vast clouds of exhaust gas floating over the car park. It has solved the problem though, global warming has led to milder winters for them now.
ernie_lynchIn England 'stationary idling' is an emission offence under section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, even if you are sitting in the driver's seat. It doesn't specify that it only applies on the public highway. Since it's an 'emission offence' I assume that committing it on your own driveway makes no difference.
Wouldn't the road traffic act deal with the roads and public highways? Otherwise it seems farcical.
In England 'stationary idling' is an emission offence under section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, even if you are sitting in the driver's seat. It doesn't specify that it only applies on the public highway. Since it's an 'emission offence' I assume that committing it on your own driveway makes no difference.
As it's off the highway and emissions regs don't apply off highway, I'd imagine you're wrong (but IANAL, and I know they've made attempts to ensure things such as driving without insurance are still an offence in places like car parks - however this is on your private land where you could drive what you wanted regardless of emission regs).
[i]Otherwise it seems farcical. [/i]
You can be done for drunk driving just by sitting in the driving seat of a motor vehicle whilst over the limit on private land?
emissions regs don't apply off highway
Fair enough.
I agree with all the other comments about Ford's QuickClear system - I had a Puma around 15 years ago with it and I loved it. My almost new Audi A6 makes do with a stupid blower system with a raison d'être of just being very loud. It has a special button and everything – 'Press me and I promise I will clear your windscreen' then it just screams loudly.
wwaswasYou can be done for drunk driving just by sitting in the driving seat of a motor vehicle whilst over the limit on private land?
What about a quad that's not taxed (asking for a friend).
You can be done for drunk driving just by sitting in the driving seat of a motor vehicle whilst over the limit on private land?
Is that a question?
The answer is no.
Top tip for older (non-keyless) BMWs (e.g. E90/91) .. start the car, stop the car, remove the key fob, start the car (i.e. press the clutch pedal, press start button). You can then leave it running and lock it with the one key.
You can be done for drunk driving just by sitting in the driving seat of a motor vehicle whilst over the limit on private land?
Doesn't that only apply to publicly accessible private land - e.g. supermarket car park?
You can be done for drunk driving just by sitting in the driving seat of a motor vehicle whilst over the limit on private land?
That depends on the land.
At this point the penny drops and I leg it to stand in front of the car to block the thief. He couldn't figure out the push button handbrake (bit unique back then) otherwise [s]car would have gone[/s] I would have died
FTFY. People have been killed trying to stop someone driving off in their car.
My 2006 Passat has a heated windscreen.
yeti takes about 10 miles to do the same. Even then, the oil won't be anywhere near up to temp.
Given that water has a much higher heat capacity than oil, and the oil is closer to the hot parts of the engine, I'd expect the oil to heat up faster than the water.
Oh and the abovementioned Passat also has an electric air heater that starts warming the cabin within a minute 🙂
[i]That guy who leaves the Evo running every morning.... have you got an address? [/i]
Bit far for you binbins. I'll drop it off to you one morning if you like 😀
I just push the button on my app whilst having breakfast 🙂
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Car is on the drive, so no legal problems, stays locked with the lights off, starts up, puts on heating front and rear windows and gets nicely toasty so when I get in 10 minutes later there's none of that tedious scraping to be done.
I believe the chauffeur takes care of that sort of thing.
Let's do it Dezzy Baby! 😀
In England 'stationary idling' is an emission offence under section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, even if you are sitting in the driver's seat. It doesn't specify that it only applies on the public highway. Since it's an 'emission offence' I assume that committing it on your own driveway makes no difference.
Section 42 doesn't specify the road because Section 42 creates the offense for all construction and use regs. The actual regulation will specify road or not.
In the case of engine idling the regs are at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2002/0110423887
Which say
Stopping of engine when vehicle stationary12.—(1) An authorised person who has reasonable cause to believe that the driver of a vehicle that is stationary on a road is committing a stationary idling offence may, upon production of evidence of his authorisation, require him to stop the running of the engine of that vehicle.
So private land - no offense.
gobuchul - Member"You can be done for drunk driving just by sitting in the driving seat of a motor vehicle whilst over the limit on private land?"
Is that a question?
The answer is no.
Strictly speaking, the answer is yes. 🙂
The offence of leaving a vehicle running is known as "quitting".
I [i]think[/i] the wording is something like:
This states that no person shall cause or permit to be on any road any motor vehicle which is not attended by a person duly licensed to drive it unless the engine is stopped and the parking brake is effectively set. Exemptions to the requirements of this Regulation as to the stopping of the engine include a fire brigade vehicle, the engine of which is being used for any fire brigade purpose.
but don't quote me.
I had a car which had a remote start fitted, but I took it off as it lowered the security rating of the alarm system and increased insurance. 💡
"The company announced Wednesday at CES 2017 its newer vehicles will work alongside Amazon's popular Echo smart speaker and its voice assistant Alexa.
The move will allow select Ford owners to make voice requests via the Echo such as "Alexa, ask MyFord Mobile to start my car," provided they're within earshot of the smart home device.
Other capabilities include the ability to turn off the car, lock or unlock the doors and check a vehicle's battery power level. The technology could also be useful for those who want to loan a car to a friend without handing over a key. A car owner could ask its Echo to unlock and start the car, even if its miles away. "
[url= http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/04/technology/ford-amazon-alexa-echo/index.html ]http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/04/technology/ford-amazon-alexa-echo/index.html[/url]
Seems secure 😯
So private land - no offence.
It's not as simple as that.
I don't have time to dig out the legislation but there is a "for the purposes of" clause that will allow prosecutions for certain offences on private land in certain circumstances. It's about being accessible to the public, not actually being public.
Otherwise you could get pissed up and doughnut your old 3-series around Tesco's car park with impunity.
As for warming up - I tend to let my car idle for a couple of minutes before driving off from a cold start, regardless of weather. Allowing the oil to circulate before loading the engine may do some good. Won't do any harm anyway.
I'm sure that one of my cars said in the manual that you should *not* do this and should drive off straight away. Can't remember which car...
Best car I've had for getting the fog off the windows is my MX5
Get in, start car, put roof down, turn on blowers and heated seats.
Scrape ice off. Get back in, put some toonz on from my phone, put on gloves, hat, scarf and ray-bans, floor the accelerator, pop the clutch, spin/slide off down the street like a champ - vroom vroom and toot toot!
Windows take seconds to clear with the roof down and never fog up again
Diesel cars should be driven away immediately. The engines won't attain working temperature at idle. That was in my VAG manual. I just use warm tap water and a rubber bladed wipe to clean off the screen on the rare occasions I now drive in the morning.
By the time you've scraped the ice off, the windows will be demisted anyway?Not in my experience.
This is where the sponge, or just waiting a while, is useful.
Nobody is driving a short journey, right? Waiting a few minutes is a small fraction of the total journey time.
I tried the hot water bottle on the dashboard last winter.
It doesn't work. All I got was a tiny area of clear screen and 98% of the windscreen still frozen.
Defrosting cars? I just MTFU and ride a motorbike. Nothing to defrost. 🙂
My record is -7C on the way to work. No problem. 🙂
I'm more intrigued how Joe scummy car thief can see where they are driving and don't stuff it into the first parked car they come to
"[i]set car off running, close door, lock door with first set of keys in the ignition[/i]"
I did this once. An old car whose remote locking had packed up. When I went back to get into the car, I put the key in the lock, turned it, and felt part of the mechanism break. The key then span uselessly. None of the other doors had a keyhole. So I had a locked, running, car and no way of getting into it.
D'oh.
I ended up smashing the glass on one of the rear doors and climbing in 😳
But on the bright side, replacement glass from a breakers was only about £15 and not too hard to fit.
I now don't bother locking the car. We live in a quiet area and if it gets nicked, I'll stomach that £400 loss.
Anyone using a vacuum squeegee thing? I've not got one but I've seen a few people recommend it for damp cars. Seems pretty sensible- clears screen and gets water out of the car
Otherwise you could get pissed up and doughnut your old 3-series around Tesco's car park with impunity.
No you couldn't. Drink drive laws use the phrase road or other public place. Public access to Tesco car park.
Driving, or being in charge, when under influence of drink or drugs.(1)A person who, when driving or attempting to drive a [F1mechanically propelled vehicle] on a road or other public place, is unfit to drive through drink or drugs is guilty of an offence.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/4
I'm more intrigued how Joe scummy car thief can see where they are driving and don't stuff it into the first parked car they come to
Sometimes they do. Not their motor to worry about though.
irc - MemberNo you couldn't. Drink drive laws use the phrase road or other public place. Public access to Tesco car park.
😕
Which is why I said:
It's about being accessible to the public, not actually being public.
as car parks are typically privately owned places.
I'm into my second winter with an electric car (Renault Zoe) and telling it to defrost and warm up from my phone before I leave the house still seems a bit special 😀
Best solution I've seen to this problem was in a late 90s USA spec Ford Taurus.
On arrival to the motel in upstate New York on a winter road trip, reception asked what time we were leaving, and how we took our coffee. Leave your keys with us. The next morning we walked out at 9.30 to see the staff had dug it out of the 43" of overnight snow, warmed up, engine running and fresh coffee in the cupholders. They do quite well on tips when the service is worth it.
I'm sure that one of my cars said in the manual that you should *not* do this and should drive off straight away. Can't remember which car...
I think most probably do.
Leaving it running cold means the oil isn't warmed up and the engine wears itself out. Far better to drive the first few miles gently until warmed up than to leave it running on the driveway until it's warm.
Even worse, people who stick the fan on 4 and the heat on full, so they drive to work and the engine never even starts to warm up.
They get around it in Scandinavia by having plug in oil heaters that warm the sump up.
Which is why I said:It's about being accessible to the public, not actually being public.
But not for engine idling. It depends on what the law says. Idling laws state "road" so it can't be committed in a private car park even if it is accessible to the public. Other laws state road or public place which includes the likes of Tesco car park.
So Tesco car park - drink driving - illegal. Idling the csr - legal.
A woman by me had hers spotted by the police recently so they took the keys and tapped the door to find she had gone back in to cook bacon sarnies for the family while the car was warming. I just don't understand how people can think it's a sensible idea! Especially as most insurance companies will use it as the perfect excuse not to pay out!
I loved my old heated windscreen on the Mondeo and would love one again but think the connected electric car with the app to heat everything and demist will be the way forward.
bensales - Member
I just push the button on my app whilst having breakfast
Did your missus set the temperature?!
sponges on the inside of the screen are the work of the devil.
You see the smears for life afterwards the car becomes undrivable and needs scrapped.
Sorry - pet hate.
I retrofitted a heated screen to my 30 year old landy - best thing ever all new cars should have these 😀
bensales - Member
I just push the button on my app whilst having breakfast
legend - Member
Did your missus set the temperature?!
The temperature number is a work of fiction. That feels the same as 21 did in my previous car.
If there's any fault with it, its that it doesn't also turn on the heated seats and steering wheel too.
I retrofitted a heated screen to my 30 year old landy
What's the difference between fitting and retrofitting?
Retrofitting means only using artisanal hand tools for the job.