NYC's Private Anti-Idling Law Enforcers

A city program pays bounties to private citizens who report vehicles for excessive idling.

An increasing number of state and local jurisdictions place limits on how long trucks may sit idle with the engine running. Unnecessary truck idling is a significant contributor to local air pollution and results in additional greenhouse gas emissions to boot.

In New York City, private bounty hunters contribute to the anti-idling law's enforcement. As chronicled the New York Times, local citizens participate in the Citizens Air Complaint Program, submitting reports on trucks that idle longer then three minutes and collecting a portion of fines collected as bounties. As the Times reports:

Those who report collect 25 percent of any fine against a truck by submitting a video just over 3 minutes in length that shows the engine is running and the name of the company on the door.

The program has vastly increased the number of complaints of idling trucks sent to the city, from just a handful before its creation in 2018 to more than 12,000 last year. . . .

The bounty system appears to have been effective at enlisting local citizens to help enforce the law, but it has also led to conflict, as truck operators do not like being reported.

The program and the increased interest in filing complaints have brought a new game of cat and mouse to the city's streets, as citizen reporters prowl in search of idling trucks and drivers, perhaps stung by past fines, are increasingly wary of people with cameras. . . .

Despite efforts to evade citizen enforcers, the program brings in fines, and pays out significant bounties.

The city paid more than $724,000 in bounties last year alone, and $1.1 million since 2019. For its share, the city collected $2.4 million in fines last year, up 24 percent from when the program began in earnest three years ago.

Comments

[santamonica811]

Out of curiosity; why would a truck or car idle for 3 minutes, or 5 minutes, or 15 minutes...other than the narrow category of cases re starting your car in freezing weather and getting the engine warmed up...or the interior of your car warmed up? So, while I never love the idea of citizens reporting on each other, I was glad to read that reporters had to have an actual video that conclusively demonstrated how long the violators were actually idling, as well as evidence as to the ownership of these business vehicles. (Given the requirement that the video has to include the name of the business associated with that truck, it does seem to be aimed only at actual businesses, and not at ordinary people idling their vehicles.)

(Way off-topic: What the f**k happened at the Oscars? If Will Smith wanted to tell/show young black men and boys that they should behave like humans and not like animals, and should be have like normal people and not like thugs . . . well, mission probably not accomplished. On the other hand; if he wanted to show a billion or two people that a super-powerful black adult man is still incapable of listening to a loved one be teased without having to resort to violence--well, he did show us that. Listen, I'm a huge fan of Will Smith the actor, and I'm all for defending people you love. But meeting a joke with violence? Just an ugly ugly look.)

[Jimmy the Dane]

Will Smith thing looked staged as all hell.

[Frank Drackman]

Andy Kauffman and Jerry Lawler did this on Letterman in 1982

[ReaderY]

The Oscars were loosing ratings. People didnmt find them interesting or exciting. Just boring speeches. Had to stage something that people would be surprised by and talk about the next day.

[Sarcastr0]

I've seen Chris Rock act.

This wasn't staged

[DaivdBehar]

Will Smith is an Academy Award winning actor. He did a good job of making you believe it. He cried on cue, a few minutes later. That looked like a knockout blow, but did not even hurt. Did Chris even rub his cheek from pain?

[Armchair Lawyer]

"Out of curiosity; why would a truck or car idle for 3 minutes, or 5 minutes, or 15 minutes"

So, the 3 minutes is actually pretty short. And the allowed idle time is even shorter outside a school (just 1 minute).

So, why would a truck idle? Well the most common example is at a red light. Red lights last up to 2 minutes in NYC. If something happened to extend the light (say an emergency vehicle coming through), you could in theory sit at the light for up to 4 minutes. And now you're in violation of the anti-idling rule, and can be fined.

Of course if you're at a red light outside of a school, you'll almost automatically be idling longer than the allowed 1 minute, and can be fined.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

I'd guess that idling in traffic doesn't count, especially at a red light.

[Armchair Lawyer]

The law doesn't actually appear to give such an exception.

[Krayt]

This. Police and lawyers don't care.

Remember: they give tickets for playing with your phone at a red light. The highway robbers looking for a payday claimed you were technically behind the wheel, even though you weren't driving.

Haha, clever! Money feeds into their pockets.

[James Pollock]

Are you floating the idea that trucks don't have to stop at red lights any more?

[Armchair Lawyer]

No, just that they have to shut off their engines at red lights while stopped.

[SimonP]

You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. No one would cite a truck for idling at a red light in this city. Fucking moron.

[Armchair Lawyer]

Here the regulation.

https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/idling-regulations

And the point is, normally no one would cite a truck. But....if someone personally gets $75 to $500 dollars for "citing" such a truck...(25% of the fine), each time.

Well, there's a lot of money to be made from sitting outside a red light next to a school on a busy NYC street. They're stopped for more than a minute with their engine going, aren't they? And there's no exception for "red lights".

[Reallynotbob]

Ya gotta read the WHOLE provision, Mr. Armchair. Starting with the actual rule text, not the linked local news summary.

NY City Rule 24-163:
(a) No person shall cause or permit the engine of a motor vehicle, other than a legally authorized emergency motor vehicle, to idle for longer than three minutes, except as provided in subdivision (f) of this section, while parking as defined in section one hundred twenty-nine of the vehicle and traffic law, standing as defined in section one hundred forty-five of the vehicle and traffic law, or STOPPING AS DEFINED IN SECTION ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN OF THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW, unless the engine is used to operate a loading, unloading or processing device.

Hmmm, what should we do with this additional and seemingly salient definition information? I know, let's try looking it up!

NY Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 107:
Stop or stopping.
When prohibited means any halting even momentarily of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, EXCEPT when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal.

Hooray! The rule borrows a specific definition of "stopping" that already excludes braking to a stop at a red light. Truck drivers rejoice.

Now I'm not saying all laws are easy to trace (looking at you, Tax Code) but a little Google work can go a long way.

[David Nieporent]

There's a reason he's only pretending to be a lawyer.

[Armchair Lawyer]

You and David need to read more closely. As well as accurately cite the provision. "Traffic Law Section 107"?? Really...

The provision starts with "When prohibited means..."

The proper way to read the context for that law is that "Stopping" is defined as "any halting even momentarily of a vehicle, whether occupied or not"

And that when (and only when) Stopping is prohibited, that there is an exception for "when it necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal."

That's to avoid silly rules lawyers seeing a "no stopping" sign and then using that logic to charge through a red light or crash into a car. Then using the defense that "It was a no stopping sign!"

The logic that stopping isn't actually defined as stopping when it's at the direction of a police officer makes zero sense.

Again. Read the laws more carefully.

[David Nieporent]

The logic that stopping isn't actually defined as stopping when it's at the direction of a police officer makes zero sense.

No, it makes perfect sense. A law that says "No stopping" does not apply when a police officer tells you to stop. A law that says "No stopping" does not apply when there's a traffic light.

Laws are commonly written to ban X, and then define X to exclude things that would otherwise fit in the literal definition of X.

[Reallynotbob]

I did mistype the code section, ya got me. But here's the real point...

You think a truck at a stop light is "stopping." Maybe so, but not for purposes of VTL 147.

The VTL defines "stopping" as something one does "when prohibited" and not because of a traffic light. So by definition, a truck in the roadway idling at a stop light has not "stopped" within the meaning of the VTL. (You will be unsurprised to learn the VTL also prohibits stopping one's vehicle in the middle of the road for no reason.)

The anti-idling rule uses the VTL definition. Which means the anti-idling rule does not apply to trucks idling at a red light.

Off topic: there's so much hate in this commentariat for lawyers, but also so little patience to examine how particular rules/statutes actually work. It's like saying doctors are useless while ignoring all their advice and then wondering how one got sick.

[Krayt]

Scroll up to my post. You presume much about dirtbag highway robbers.

[jb]

"Red lights last up to 2 minutes in NYC."

This is incorrect. The longest complete cycle time in NYC is 2 minutes; that includes both the red and green portion of the cycle. It's also pretty uncommon--there's pushback on proposed cycle times of 100 seconds as "too long". I doubt there's a light anywhere in front of a school that has a 60+ second red. (And of course as others have noted the law doesn't apply in this situation anyway.)

[Currentsitguy]

It really depends on the engine type. Large diesels are actually more efficient if left to idle. They can also be difficult to start in the cold, so once you get them started, you tend to leave them running. Truckers rely on the engine running for heat and/or cooling when the sleep overnight in the cab. Older trucks, think the old cabover types use compressed air, not the battery to run the engine starter. repeated turning off and restarting the engine without repressurizing the air tank will eventually render the truck unable to start without an external source of air pressure.

I saw it reported a month or so back during the Ottawa trucker's protest that a full tractor trailer can effectively idle for about 14 days

[Dilan Esper]

Truckers rely on the engine running for heat and/or cooling when the sleep overnight in the cab.

This is the big issue. There are units that power the accessories separately; however, they cost money. You can also stay in hotels, but that costs money and slows the trip.

All of this should be built into the trucking cost and paid for by consumers who purchase the goods. But instead it is often borne by truckers, who then want to idle their engines instead to save money.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Is there any allowance made for refrigerator trucks?

Even when a refrigerator truck is being loaded or unloaded, you may want the refrigerator to still run.

If a refrigerator truck gets to a loading dock before the business opens due to unpredictable traffic, or when the loading dock is occupied or blocked, or when the crew is busy elsewhere or otherwise unable to start loading or unloading right away, you want to keep the refrigerator still running.

[Dick King]

On a refrigerated truck, the refrigerator's compressor has a separate engine.

-dk

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

So someone could get two fines for one video!

(Assuming the ordnance is not specific about the idling engine....)

[Noscitur a sociis]

Is there any allowance made for refrigerator trucks?

Yes, and the private enforcement site explicitly notes, repeatedly, that "[i]f you submit a complaint regarding a refrigeration truck, you must document that the engine that moves the vehicle was on and was not being used to run the refrigeration unit."

[TwelveInchPianist]

"(Way off-topic: What the f**k happened at the Oscars? If Will Smith wanted to tell/show young black men and boys that they should behave like humans and not like animals, and should be have like normal people and not like thugs . . . well, mission probably not accomplished."

Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith's wife.

Will Smith was laughing at the joke, and looked over at his wife, who was pissed. She had seen him laughing.

Everybody understands that Will had to do something at that point, and Chris nobly took one for the team, to get Will out of his jam. Quite admirable, really.

[Frank Drackman]

did you get upset when The Undertaker beat up Hulk Hogan?

[Krayt]

The Undertaker's manager, Paul Bearer.

I once walked by Mean Gene sitting in First Class boarding a plane to Sarasota.

That's all my pro wrestling stories.

[Reallynotbob]

"...had to do something at that point." I do think a lot of people understand it that way.

But it's patronizing to assume Jada's feelings needed defending. And more patronizing to think Chris willingly took a blow in order to help Will passive-aggressively manage his otherwise uncontrollable wife. There have been a lot of outmoded tropes on display. That's true even if Jada is part of the problem (which I do not know to be the case).

[Bob from Ohio]

"If Will Smith..."

Too much analysis, just be thankful it wasn't a joke about Alec Baldwin's wife.

[DaivdBehar]

Manhattan lost 7% of its population, and the rest of the city, 3%. How about a bounty on criminals, not on people trying to deliver to NY places?

[DaivdBehar]

Snitches should be identified. Truckers should sue them for any carelessness. A database of snitches should be started, as well.

[Jimmy the Dane]

I thought private law enforcement was bad? Like really bad. Like fascism man.

[apedad]

Reporting a crime is not law enforcement.

Why do we always have to explain simple concepts to you?

[Michael P]

Fining the truck's operator, which provides the payback to whomever reported the idling, absolutely is law enforcement.

Why do we always have to think more than one step ahead for you?

[DaveM]

Reporting a crime and collecting a share of the fine is definitely private "enforcement".

[Sarcastr0]

I'm not sure this is good policy, but this is fundamentally different from Texas' citizen attorney generals law.

[DaivdBehar]

Ape. When you pay someone, they are your servant. Why not pay people to record and report crime, instead of people making deliveries under the hardest circumstances imaginable? Why? Because the lawyer is both stupid and evil. The party of the lawyer is the Democrat Party.

[James Pollock]

"The party of the lawyer is the Democrat Party."

the party of the idiot with no grip on reality is the Republican Party. Pick your poison. (Like YOU have a choice).

[Currentsitguy]

Sounds to me like NYC has effectively turned the city's population into bounty hunters.

[Rossami]

When you are getting paid, it's no longer merely 'reporting a crime'. You have made yourself a civilian arm of law enforcement.

And yes, getting paid for "reporting " a crime is a conflict of interest. And yes, that's generally bad.

[SimonP]

Is there a constitutionally protected right to idle for more than three minutes?

[Frank Drackman]

right next to the one for Abortion

[ReaderY]

Worth noting that citizens don’t file in court directly. A prosecutor still has to decide whether there’s sufficient evidence and reason to prosecute.

So this isn’t really comparable to a private attornies general situation. After all, rewards for people with information about people committing more serious crimes have been around for a very long time.

[Doug Huffman]

So much for Certified Clean Idle development expense. Best solution, boycott New York.

[DaveM]

Just as a matter of PR, it is an incredibly bad look for a government to not be able to enforce the law on its own. Tell me again what we're paying you for?

Here in Virginia, we had a somewhat similar situation where "Zuckerbucks" were used to pay for election administration staff in select counties (6-to-1 Democratic), something which had never been done before, at least in my memory. Not a good look. We can definitely foot the bill to run our own elections! A bill outlawing the use of private funds in this way just passed the Assembly with a unanimous vote in the Senate, and awaits the Governor's signature.

[Michael P]

Well, you know what they say: "Snitches get riches." Wait, or was it "Big Brother is watching you"? Maybe "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear"? I'm sure there is some good example of programs that encourage daily snooping on neighbors without turning into privacy and civil liberty dumpster fires -- although none come to mind.

[James Pollock]

"Just as a matter of PR, it is an incredibly bad look for a government to not be able to enforce the law on its own. Tell me again what we're paying you for? "

So what you want is the "truck idling enforcement" branch of the NYPD, tooling around the city in little electric carts, with body cams (and guns) to enforce the anti-idling law?

[zztop8970]

How is that different from the "parking enforcement" branch of the NYPD, tooling around the city in little electric carts, to enforce parking laws?

[jimc5499]

"Unnecessary truck idling is a significant contributor to local air pollution and results in additional greenhouse gas emissions to boot."
Bullshit. A diesel truck creates more pollution on start up than it does idling 15 minutes. Diesel engines don't have sparkplugs. Until their cylinders get up to operating temperature they expend part of their fuel as carbon. This is just more environmental bullshit, so they can fine the "evil" trucking companies.

[James Pollock]

I don't think it works the way you imagine it works.

[Krayt]

No, but highway robber government works exactly the way it works.

[John F. Carr]

Reminds me of the thoroughly corrupt business of ticket cameras.

My state's anti-idling law has an exception when the truck's engine power is needed. Larger trucks could have a lift or refrigerator. I wonder if New York City has the same exception, and who has the burden of proof. And whether companies with a good defense pay up anyway, the same way they make a deal to pay parking tickets in bulk whether or not a few of them are bogus.

[Noscitur a sociis]

I wonder if New York City has the same exception, and who has the burden of proof.

You know you're allowed to check, right?

[wolfefan]

Scott Greenfield has a post on this today over at Simple Justice.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

I read an article once about private sniff pollution enforcers in the late 1800s in NYC. Something to do with smelly factories, IIRC. Private citizens would walk around, trying to pin down where nasty smells came from, and were reasonably successful in finding those polluting sources. Not just factories -- slaughterhouse, tanning operations, and so on. Don't even remember now how long I read this -- 5, 10 , 15 years ago? Don't remember if the polluters were charged by the city or in civil suits.

[Frank Drackman]

Good thing Jets don't spend much time Idling at LaGuardia/Idlewild/Newark, or burn much fuel on takeoffs/landings

[bernard11]

If only the Giants, Yankees, Mets, and Knicks would stop too.

[Frank Drackman]

Of course 30million Peoples in the Tri-State area exhaling 200ml CO2 per minute doesn't help either. What would Sleepy Joe say (when he isn't starring in his own update of "Dr. Straneglove"?)
" C'mon Man! if everybody would just exhale 10% less a day!! We'll stop Global Warming!"

[Longtobefree]

My preferred solution to the "problem" of global climate warming change is to prohibit liberals and lawyers from exhaling at all.
This may not stop global warming, but it will end the endless whining and inaccurate models.

[Jimmy the Dane]

This would end overnight if Amazon just stopped delivering packages to New York City.....

Of course then the liberals wouldn't be so enthralled about how "private industry" is not bound by the constitution, etc....

[Sarcastr0]

Dr. Ed is back, y'all!

[James Pollock]

He's dumb, but not Dr. Ed dumb.

[Sarcastr0]

The truckers' general strike is vintage Ed.

[James Pollock]

Or maybe those darn libruls would know that there is no Constitutional right to have Chinese goods delivered directly to your doorstep.

[jb]

LOL. Someone is completely unfamiliar with how Amazon deliveries happen in NYC. Or maybe...anywhere? Even in the suburbs, I've never seen one of Amazon's delivery vehicles stop for about 60 seconds to drop off the package as quickly as humanly possible.

But also: there's tons of businesses that don't deliver to NYC and no one thinks that any of their rights are being abridged as a result.

[Toranth]

What makes you think you know how Amazon trucks deliver?
In my area, they idle for 15+ minutes in front of apartment buildings - blocking half the street the entire time, of course. So does UPS and FedEx.

[Jerry B.]

So now we know where Texas got the idea.

[Longtobefree]

NYC? Local story.

[Jordan Brown]

Where do I get a sound clip of a diesel engine idling?

[ThePublius]

Modern diesel engines are much more sophisticated and fuel efficient than old ones. For example3, I rented a diesel 5-series Audi in the UK a few years ago that stopped the engine when you stopped at a red light, and restarted the engine when you released the brake. It got fantastic mileage! Also, they hold heat well, and restart in a snap when they are warm, which can be hours after they are shut down.

There's not reason to idle a truck unless it's to keep the cabin warm. Truck makers should work on that, and perhaps build a hydronic cabin heater with some storage.