By USAG Stuttgart Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division
Idling your vehicle truly gets you nowhere. It increases our dependence on petroleum, reduces the fuel economy of your vehicle, costs you money, produces pollutants and wastes precious natural resources.
As if wasted money and pollution are not bad enough, the idling of vehicles is against the law in Germany.
German traffic law prohibits avoidable exhaust emissions (Paragraph 30-Environmental Protection). This means if your car is not moving (the exception is at a traffic light), you must shut off your engine. This reduces the emission of toxic air pollutants such as Particulate Matter, or PM10, which causes respiratory problems and cardiovascular diseases.
Within the German Federal Air Emission Ordinance, there are threshold values established for air emissions: The daily average value of 50 µg/m3 of PM10 shall not be exceeded on more than 35 days within a year. During 2012, Stuttgart exceeded that limit in the city center on 78 days.
Do the smart and right thing by turning off your car engine when you are not driving. You will help to keep Stuttgart’s air clean.