By Lisa Lucas Gardner, J.D. On June 3 at 5:08 PM
Since Ive got the reputation of venting the citizen's frustration with pet peeves in town, I must say that this one got my attention.
Ive limited my constructive criticism in saving gasoline in the past to the police department. Ive appealed to the police department to get out of those high comsumption police cruisers and get on their feet, bicycles, and scooters. However, Ive recently noticed we have a larger problem and that ALL town vehicles & equipment use gasoline and diesel wastefully. Yesterday, at approximately 3:45 PM, town truck #9 was parking in front of the town hall with the engine running. The operator had left the vehicle running & unattended (in violation of some states traffic codes because of safety & anti-theft reasons)while he was on business inside. If there isnt already there should be a town policy that prohibits leaving a vehicle running because of the possible dangerous consequences to the public if a child or other young person were to come upon it or the possbility of someone easily stealing it. The vehicle in question on this day was a large sized truck which I'm sure consumes alot of gas or diesel. The residents reported to me that the truck was left unattended and running for approximately 15 minutes. When the driver finally emerged from town hall and was questioned by a resident about gas costing $4.00 a gallon and leaving a vehicle running was not a good idea, he hurried off without a courteous replyn or conversation, saying only that he was in a "hurry" and drove away. How rude.
There are several things wrong here. (1) Leaving an unoccupied vehicle running is a dangerous thing to do and all town employees should be prohibited from doing so, (2) If a resident addresses a town employee the employee owes it to the resident to be respectful and to reply courteously, (3)and wasting gasoline is no longer okay.
I am appealing to the Mayor & Town Council and the residents of Christiansburg to unite and cut our gasoline useage immediately. Taxes are going to rise next year but I dont want to have the increases pay for a deficit in gasoline budgeting and consumption by wasteful town employees.
P.S. In my earlier blog entry I incorrectly stated that leaving an unattended vehicle running is in violation of the Code of Virginia. Although it is illegal in some other states, so far the legislature in Virginia has failed to enact this necessary public safety law. However, with the Virginia State Police H.E.A.T. (Help Eliminate Auto Theft) program this anti-theft law would be a beneficial one to have on the books. Thanks for pointing that out to me so I can now contact my state legislator to work on that for us.