The traffic lights are out—again! There’s a line of cars barely inching forward as time ticks by. The many culprits on South African roads? Faulty robots at intersections, loadshedding and no maintenance. Have you ever considered how much petrol is wasted while your car idles? Let’s explore the hidden cost, both to your pocket and the environment.
How Much Petrol is Wasted?
In South Africa, ageing infrastructure and power outages have made malfunctioning traffic lights a common issue. This causes serious traffic jams and risks on the road, especially in major cities. Every time your car comes to a standstill, engines keep running, burning through fuel that already costs a lot of your monthly income.
So, let’s break down: According to research, a typical car burns around 0.5 gallons (1.89 litres for us South African folk) of fuel per hour while idling. In traffic or waiting for your turn at a traffic light, this adds up quickly.
Let’s give you a crazy example and some quick math on this. If you idle for 30 minutes a day driving to and from the office, this will equal around 0.945 litres a day. If you’re driving into work with the same issues for a week, that’s 4.7 litres wasted. Fifty weeks of doing it, and you’ll have burned 245 litres of petrol. While this is a very extreme example, that would mean you spent R5896 just from idling all year. With prices already at a high and can go up this November, those litres translate into unnecessary costs for drivers.
The Environmental Cost of Broken Traffic Lights
Aside from the financial burden, the environmental toll of wasted fuel is significant. When you’re stuck in traffic and idling, your engine is still producing the pollutants that contribute to air pollution. But unfortunately, traffic and broken traffic lights are not things in our control. So, what can you as a driver do?
One simple solution is for drivers to adopt fuel-saving habits like turning off the engine if they notice they’re idling in one spot for a while or using real-time traffic apps like Google Maps and Waze to avoid congested routes. Additionally, drivers can also avoid rapid acceleration tactics and hard braking, which can conserve some petrol in stop-and-go traffic.
It’s More Than Just An Inconvenience
A faulty traffic light is more than just an inconvenience; it’s costing us money and contributing to environmental damage.
No matter what, accidentANGELS wants to spread awareness and make sure you’re safe in traffic situations. Even seemingly slow traffic can cause serious road hazards that could put you and your passengers at risk of injury. Adopt those simple road hacks like turning off your engine or smoother driving techniques, which can make a small difference.
While road conditions are out of your control, your safety doesn’t have to be. Sign up with accidentANGELS today and not only get the benefit of private hospital after a vehicle accident for just R149pm but a chance to win R10 000 towards your summer trip! Check it out here: www.accidentangels.co.za.
Keep calm and drive safely.
