The mayor (PS) of Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), Mathieu Klein, has decided to crack down: via an order issued on Friday August 12, 2022, the city councilor now prohibits users from “leaving their engine running when parked or at the ‘stop outside traffic’. Motorists who do not turn off their car risk a hefty fine of €135, reports BFMTV.
“Too often, the engines of vehicles stopped while parked or out of traffic are left running for long minutes, needlessly releasing gases and particles, while the air quality in the city is strongly impacted by traffic. automobile and road”, explains the municipality in a press release relayed on Twitter.
By this decree, the mayor intends “to promote a measure of public health and energy sobriety” and to be part of “a global approach in favor of the ecological transition of the territory”. In its press release, the City recalls that the obligation to cut the engine when stopped has existed since a ministerial decree dated November 12, 1963, which has since fallen into “obsolete”.
On the other hand, the measure does not concern “emergency vehicles for people, public service vehicles in intervention and refrigerated trucks transporting foodstuffs, nor on the preheating of engines in the event of negative temperatures”.
As explained to our colleagues from RMC Bertrand Masson, deputy mayor of Nancy, “the objective is not to verbalize but to remind everyone of their individual responsibility”. “We are in a time of pedagogy”, specifies the elected official. Indeed, the municipal police’s mission is to sensitize motorists and to only verbalize in the event of recalcitrant behavior.
The establishment of this fine is not unanimous among residents interviewed by the radio. Some believe that the measure will only concern a minority of users in Nancy. Others that the use of air conditioning is necessary in the event of a prolonged stop with children on board.
According to LCI, a mid-range vehicle consumes nearly 3.5 liters per 100 when its engine remains on when stationary. A figure that can skyrocket if the air conditioning remains active.