Scots eco group urging crackdown on cars idling outside schools as ban not being enforced

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scots authorities are failing to enforce the engine idling ban outside schools with hundreds of cases ignored, legal experts have warned.The Environmental Rights Centre Scotland (ERCS) is demanding a school gate pollution crackdown ahead of pupils going back this month amid fears for kids’ health.Figures obtained by the eco justice group show 760 reports of engine idling from members of the public in Scotland’s four biggest cities since 2019.But shockingly, not a single fine was issued by councils including Glasgow - and three of the four local authorities, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, said they had taken no enforcement action since 2003.Idling - leaving the engine running while a car is stationary - is prohibited by law because of the toxic exhaust fumes it releases into the environment.Kids, older people, pregnant women and those with health conditions are particularly vulnerable to poisonous car emissions at idling hotspots like schools, hospitals and bus stops.It follows the tragic death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah in London aged nine in 2020, who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as her cause of death following a fatal asthma attack.Enforcement of Scotland’s car idling ban is supposed to be handled by councils.But the ERCS warned the current fine of £20 for car idling was so low local authorities avoid issuing the penalty “because the administration is more expensive than the fine”.It also highlighted 2003 guidance issued by the Scottish Government saying councils should only issue fines for idling as a “last resort” - the opposite to most other types of driving and parking offences.Dr Shivali Fifield, Chief Officer at the ERCS, saId: “Air pollution is a stain on our collective