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Schoolchildren stage protest against idling drivers
Children staged a demonstration outside an east Bristol school on Tuesday morning calling for an end to idling cars.
Dozens of pupils from St Werburgh’s Primary School chanted “switch off so we don’t cough” as they marched from the school gates down James Street and Mogg Street.
As they wove around the site, home to two school sites and a nursery, the little protesters held red 150 cardboard ‘balloons’ to raise awareness of the impact of engine fumes.
is needed now More than ever
“We’ve been protesting so that we don’t have to have a really dirty school road because it affects our lungs and makes us cough,” Maemi, who is in year five, told Bristol24/7.
“If you idle in your car for about a minute and you still have your engine on, it can create 150 balloons’ worth of gas.”
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Parent Adam Laity said: “The problem here is that we have a lot of traffic at key points in the day when children are walking to and from school, with a lot of vehicles and parents dropping people off.
“Because of the traffic lights and the roundabout, the road becomes backed up, especially if it’s wet.
“People don’t realise that just idling for 30 seconds or for a few minutes can create a huge amount of pollution.
“The research says that the average car idles for one minute, it will produce 150 balloons worth of poisonous fumes.
“That’s what our children, young people and parents are breathing in every day as they walk to and from school or between the two sites.”
The demonstration came after car use and traffic in St Werburgh’s has surged in recent years, head teacher Helen Faulkner said.
Faulkner said: “We have a very active green team because we’re a rights respecting school and part of that is really listening to the voice of the child. There’s lots of children who are really worried about wanting to make a difference.”
Idling, when people sit in their cars with the engine still running, is illegal under the Highway Code and can lead to fines, but councils have historically found this difficult to enforce.
It is estimated that air quality in Bristol regularly breaches legal limits and pollution contributes to the deaths of more than 300 people a year in the city, also affecting children’s brain development.
All photos & video: Betty Woolerton
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