Community Chat

[cherry]

He did lock his car, didn't help a bit. He still got ticketed. It was on TV and he was just a kid  and the ticket was steep

I think he should have gotten off with a warning. He had no prior  record or tickets.

[LilacTree]

CAVEAT!!

If you choose to warm your windshield with your car heater, first be sure to check your exhaust pipe for ice first.  You can fill your car up with carbon monoxide in just minutes if you don't clear your exhaust pipe first!

[sunshine45]

interesting.....i have never seen or heard of someone in our area getting a ticket for idling in the winter, but i did read these maryland laws.

maybe the last notation refers to cars during the wintertime?

(3) A motor vehicle engine may not be allowed to operate for more than 5 consecutive

minutes when the vehicle is not in motion, except as follows:

(i) When a vehicle is forced to remain motionless because of traffic conditions of mechanical difficulties over which the operator has no control;

(ii) When it is necessary to operate heating and cooling

or auxiliary equipment

installed on the vehicle;

(iii) To bring the vehicle to the manufacturer's recommended operating temperature;

or

(iv) When it is necessary to accomplish the intended

use of the vehicle.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/news/a41993/car-idling-laws/

[software]

Great advice!

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@LilacTree wrote:

CAVEAT!!

If you choose to warm your windshield with your car heater, first be sure to check your exhaust pipe for ice first.  You can fill your car up with carbon monoxide in just minutes if you don't clear your exhaust pipe first!

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[missy1]

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@LilacTree wrote:

CAVEAT!!

If you choose to warm your windshield with your car heater, first be sure to check your exhaust pipe for ice first.  You can fill your car up with carbon monoxide in just minutes if you don't clear your exhaust pipe first!

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thanks. I have never heard of that,

[Laura14]

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@LilacTree wrote:

CAVEAT!!

If you choose to warm your windshield with your car heater, first be sure to check your exhaust pipe for ice first.  You can fill your car up with carbon monoxide in just minutes if you don't clear your exhaust pipe first!

---

That is so true @LilacTree!  Or blow out your spark plugs.  I clogged my tailpipe once by backing into a hill, dirt plugged it up and I had to have all my plugs replaced. The car wouldn't start at all.   

[esmerelda]

It's against the law to leaving your car idling in some states.  It's a long list.   @sunshine45 Maryland is one of them.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/news/a41993/car-idling-laws/

The article is from 2016, so maybe more have been added.

[RedTop]

@cherry,

Here in southern WV, ticketing for unattended car idling has been a main news topic this winter.   All TV stations and newspapers have done stories on this, to make the public aware it is against the law.   The topic has been addressed with statements by city, and county officers that they will be enforcing the law.   The instances I am aware of have been within city limits. 

The point they have made is that unattended idling has resulted in stolen vehicles, and the enforcement of this law is strictly directed towards prevention of auto thefts.    

When I worked 11-7, many people ran outside to start their cars about 15 minutes before end of shift, or had a designated person start their car for them.  Security monitored the cars in the main lot, so everyone felt safe doing this during bad weather.   

[Kachina624]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

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@cherry wrote:

Where I live ,a young guy actually got a ticket, for letting his car idle ,in his own driveway, to warm it up. All he was trying to do was to clean off the ice from his windshield, and rear window, and he thought it would work better, if the car was warm.

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@cherry

what was the ticket for?

i have never heard of this before......

we all do this......get in the car to warm it up and turn on the defrost. i then get out to remove my frostguard.

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If he got a ticket, it was undoubtedly because he was not present while his car was idling.  It's an open invitation to a car thief.  Idling a car while you're in it or next to it is not illegal.  Stealing idling cars is practically an olympic sport where I live.

[gardenman]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@sunshine45 wrote:

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@cherry wrote:

Where I live ,a young guy actually got a ticket, for letting his car idle ,in his own driveway, to warm it up. All he was trying to do was to clean off the ice from his windshield, and rear window, and he thought it would work better, if the car was warm.

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@cherry

what was the ticket for?

i have never heard of this before......

we all do this......get in the car to warm it up and turn on the defrost. i then get out to remove my frostguard.

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If he got a ticket, it was undoubtedly because he was not present while his car was idling.  It's an open invitation to a car thief.  Idling a car while you're in it or next to it is not illegal.  Stealing idling cars is practically an olympic sport where I live.

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In NJ you can be sitting in the car, behind the wheel, and if you don't shut the car off within the timeline, you can still get ticketed. Our Wawa stores have signs up warning customers of the risk. Here they say it's to limit air pollution. An idling car is a polluting car, so they don't want them idling. I don't know of anyone who's gotten a ticket for it, but catch the wrong officer on the wrong day, and you could.

NJ has a pedestrian crosswalk law and if a pedestrian steps one foot into a crosswalk, you must stop. A local police department set up a trap a few years ago where they had a plainsclothed officer simply place one foot off the sidewalk into the crosswalk, and they ticketed anyone who didn't stop, even though the officer wasn't moving forward, he'd just stepped one foot into the crosswalk. They took a lot of heat for that and haven't repeated it.