You can get a ticket for that

[badrose]

http://www.wxyz.com/news/roseville-man-gets-128-ticket-for-heating-up-car-in-own-driveway

[suncat05]

Okay, maybe that city does have an ordinance in place that allows the police to ticket these "offenders". But I have a real issue with this one, and this is why: the homeowner has his car on his property, he is not bothering anyone, it's cold outside and he is doing what hundreds of thousands of Americans do daily during the winter, which is warming up his car for whatever purpose he intends to use it for and so that he has heat inside his vehicle, AND the officer who issued that citation went onto private property without an invitation OR PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE A CRIME WAS BEING COMMITTED. The citation issued in question is tor a civil infraction, not a crime.
So, I have to question the validity of the city's actions. And the merit of the citation itself.
This is, to me, clearly a case of local government exceeding its lawful authority. JMHO.

[Darrell KSR]

Don't blame the officer (as the man did on his viral Facebook post). He's just enforcing the law that was written by the local legislators.

I read the article, and I'm not sure which way I fall on it. I agree having an unlocked, running car is an invitation to crooks, but where do you draw the line? Of course, when a crook steals the guy's car for leaving it unlocked and running, he's the first one demanding use of law enforcement resources to find his car and hunt down the person responsible for the easy theft.

I like the exception for a locked car, remote start, etc. Maybe it is OK if you take the step to lock the running car to do that.

[suncat05]

Good point, Darrell. But I am standing by what I said. I believe the city is wrong in its actions, and an officer going onto private property without either 1) an emergency call of some sort at that address, or 2) hot pursuit of a felony suspect, or 3) actually witnessing a crime being committed in his/her presence.
As it was described in the news article, and as I understood it when I read it, this is a civil issue, not a criminal violation. And as I read it I have serious doubts as to the city's authority to go onto private property and civilly cite someone for starting their own privately owned automobile to allow it to warm up in that cold weather up there in Michigan. And I have some very serious doubts about the legality & validity of a city ordinance whose main goal is the obvious generation of revenue for the city. Shady & questionable. And......a severe overreach of local governmental authority against the citizens of that city. Again, JMHO.

[Doc]

So if somebody leaves a bicycle unlocked on their property, they should be ticketed? Or you leave anything of value on your porch for that matter. Does it pertain to if folks leave a front door unlocked when they leave, or a side door? What about a window? I mean the same standard would apply since all those things can and do increase the ease of a crime

[BigBluePappy]

Heck, we didn't even take our keys out of the car down home. Left them in the floorboard in case the car needed to be moved.
Of course we had the good old trusty hound dog alarm.

Now, my doors will not lock on my Ranger, I been begging folks to steal it for some time now and it hasn't happened.:winking0011: