Why the Left Hates Idling Cars

There’s nothing that bugs the anti-petroleum Left more than seeing hundreds of non-moving cars with their engines running.

John F. Di Leo | July 16, 2026

There’s nothing that bugs the anti-petroleum Left more than seeing hundreds of non-moving cars with their engines running. They call it a waste of gasoline.

Of course, it’s not actually a waste of gasoline at all; it’s just part of driving. We need cars to stop at red lights; that’s what red lights are for, so that traffic is managed safely. Cars stop for a moment at a stop sign, a little longer at a red light, sometimes going back and forth from stop to start on a highway or other major road during rush hour, or when sitting in the intersection awaiting a right or left turn.

You can’t look at each segment of a road trip separately; the issue is driving from point A to point B, not studying each individual step along the way. Stopping at stop signs and red lights is just part of the process of safe driving; it allows a huge number of cars to share the road network in all directions with a minimum of accidents.

But somewhere along the way, the Left came up with the idea of an automatic stop-start mechanism (also known as micro hybrid, idling stop, or other names). It’s an automatic way for the car to shut down its engine whenever it detects that the vehicle has come to a stop, without the driver switching it off.

I’m sure this idea sounds wonderful to the Leftists who dreamed it up; you are no longer burning up gasoline for the 10 seconds at the stop sign, or the 30 to 120 seconds at the red light, or the 15 or 30 seconds while waiting to turn left, or the minute while waiting for a police car, ambulance, or funeral procession to pass by, and so forth.

It sounds to the Left........

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