I was first exposed to this phenomenon while visiting India in 2000. Traffic lights there, like anywhere else, consume some 2+ minutes of your life and in response to the atrocious air quality in most cities, the local governments had instructed motorists to shut down their vehicles.

Now, unlike this article which suggests that most cars in the US utilizing fuel injection and much more modern system can restart within a fraction of a second, most of the vehicles in India had no such technology and would take many stressful minutes to get started up again. The incessant honking that would ensue when the circa-1980’s Fiat in the front of the caravan failed to start could surely deafen people many miles away.

Is the savings of about 30 miles (very unscientific number, mind you) per gas tank worth starting and stopping your car at every stop light?

Imagine the frenzy that would ensue if an emergency vehicle with all of its loud and flashing regalia were to come screaming through an intersection where everyone has turned off their vehicles. Oh Boy!

Additionally, back when I was attending the MSF course in preparation of getting my motorcycle license, the one thing that they taught us was to always be ready and prepared at stop lights and signs to be able to pull over or away quickly in case the dumb and blind car driver fails to notice your elaborately colored bike. The time it would take to realize a car is indeed gunning for you, turn the bike on and take off would surely require more skills than I surely possess, and I’m willing to bet, most of the riders out there.

So, I think as useful as this might sound, before a movement is created to even begin this practice, there should be some scientific tests to see how much pollution a car that is repeatedly started and stopped creates. Additionally, this practice should only be conducted on roads that are wide enough to allow emergency vehicles to maneuver around the sea of stopped cars without requiring grannies and their Buick mobiles to jump the curb.

Cheers