Elk Grove won't fine idling drivers

Elk Grove Village is leaning toward encouraging residents to turn off their engines rather than making idling a crime.

According to Trustee Pat Feichter, committee members decided this week that an educational effort would be a better avenue to prevent idling than tickets and fines - but the topic is still up for discussion.

Trustee Sam Lissner said the village wants to inform people of the advantages of turning off engines, including cutting pollution and saving gas.

Cars standing outside schools are perhaps the biggest idling culprits, so village officials plan to target these parents, possibly by issuing informational pamphlets.

But no decisions have been made yet, officials say.

While the village at this point has no plans to issue fines, Mayor Craig Johnson said trustees will look more at the no-idling issue at a future committee of the whole meeting.

Resident Bill Fischer is one resident who has spoken out on the issue, and he's opposed to the idea of forming mandatory no-idling zones.

"I don't like that they are trying to tell me what to do," he said.

Elk Grove Village has launched numerous green efforts, such as adding hybrid vehicles to its fleet and renovating its new village hall to be more energy efficient.

Illinois has a state law that limits idling of diesel vehicles weighing more than 8,000 pounds to 10 minutes within any 60-minute period in Chicago, the suburbs and the metro St. Louis area, when the temperature is between 32 and 80 degrees. School buses are allowed to idle 15 minutes.

Anyone convicted of violating the law is guilty of a petty offense and can be fined $50 for the first conviction and $150 for a second conviction within one year.