Looking for solutions for this Problem
I live in the lower floors of a building and often, at night when I go to sleep, I hear the annoying sound of an idling car with people just chilling on the street. Not only is the sound annoying, but it also drills my head with the fact that idling = pollution so it's harder to go to sleep. Some people would shout from the window "turn off the engine", some people make the effort and go down and politely ask them to stop idling (although they could potentially be dangerous people at night). Most of the time, the idlers are nice and do comply to turn the engine off. Some even say sorry.
I wonder though, is there any product or technological way that could allow me to ask them nicely without the shouting or the effort and risk of going down?
This use case could be extended to all situations in which you want to tell something to someone close by (perhaps even annonimously).
You could find some way to buy and hang a street sign saying "No idling, turn engine off" like this one:
https://www.google.com/search?q=street+sign+engine+off&safe=active&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=RAO6mD0sjm9M2M%2C4Jo8dr9taOgKaM%2C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTf-3DDCEU6aRQxqO9Dp8xcaDvAag&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkmcnYi7LrAhU3GDQIHQVhCQwQ9QEwAHoECAoQFg#imgrc=RAO6mD0sjm9M2M
The hardest part, though, is to fine them if they don't turn them off. Maybe some local regulations can help.
You really can do it! The live example: I live in the cul de sac where not too much space for cars but every family has at least 2 cars and not every family has a garage. Several years ago we collected signatures and ask city regulations to permit perpendicular parking. They finally permitted and now we have a lot of space for all the cars (and we had an official sign for it installed on my front yard :)
Nice win with the perpendicular parking!
Yea, a sign would help. And I could add some LEDs to it so that it blinks when idling is detected (mic needed) to make sure they notice it
Yes, I think LED would help a lot! They may be even not related on mic but just with light-reflecting points or borders to be more visible (as MVP :).
I question what portion of the problem for you is noise and what portion is the engine contributing pollution. If it’s noise, it’s a casualty of living in an urban setting. And if it’s pollution, I would say an idle car contributes relatively little and it’s more of a pet peeve to get over.
Send a drone with a message attached.
Or prefix a sign you can light / flicker / grab attention to when relevant (cause static sites are easy not to notice..) (can add sound to the sign..)
Basically components of an alarm system, can detect and respond to stuff...
(you probably should better invest in headphones or something.. maybe a white noise machine...)
Some countries started having rules against idling cars... but IDK if calling the police or submitting evidence would usually get an actual response 🤷.
That sign idea would be cool if I can remotely make it visible and shiny :) perhaps sth like a projector, but that would reveal my location haha. The drone will probably be hit down or stolen if they disagree 😂
Yea like you said, here they have started putting up signs against idling but it's not something that they would send people to enforce 🤷♂️
Are you higher than the ground floor? like can you throw something? not as aggressive like a parachute message...
Had a toy like this as a kid...
https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Parachute-Army-Men-Paratrooper/dp/B07DZS1NYD
ha :) nice one. Yea I'm on the 3rd floor.