Warming up Cars in Small Town Could Result in Fines

[johnnymk]

Good or Dumb Law?

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/11182190/detail.html?treets=atl&tid=2657805764813&tml=atl_12pm&tmi=atl_12pm_1_11000403062007&ts=H

FOREST PARK, Ga. -- A little-known state law makes it illegal to leave a car running and unattended. The 33-year-old law was created to prevent cars from rolling away.

The law is finding a new purpose in the city of Forest Park -- a city of 22,000 people in Clayton County. Authorities are enforcing it in an effort to prevent auto theft.

Since January, Forest Park police have ticketed 14 people for violating Georgia code section 40-6-201. The fine is for $168.

Louise Wood warms up her car on cold mornings before her six-year-old son gets in the car. She was among those ticketed.

She says she was furious and pleaded ignorance of the law. And she has company; attorneys specializing in traffic violations in several jurisdictions say they were not aware of the statute.

Forest Park Police Major Chris Matson stands behind the decision to enforce the law. He says it's part of a citywide effort to cut down on the number of stolen cars.

Auto theft in Forest Park dropped by 25-percent last year -- from 240 in 2005 to 180 in 2006. But Matson remains concerned. He says 11 cars left warming and unattended were stolen during the first five weeks of this year.

Police have posted fliers about car thefts around the city and placed automated calls alerting residents to the problem and the law. Officers on late night and early morning shifts patrol apartment complexes and convenience store parking lots looking for offenders.

Several months ago, Forest Park police adopted an ordinance based on the 1974 state law, which means the city gets to keep the fines instead of sharing revenue with the state.

[MikeD]

They just passed this law in a county in Maryland because so many cars were being stolen...while sitting there idling, with the owners waiting for them to warm up. :gle:

Sad but true...

[Markel]

I've heard that the city where I work (Aurora, IL) has such a law (it was even mentioned on the radio not long ago). It technically makes it illegal to use a remote starter to warm up your car before you get in it.

[mcs328]

I'm for it actually if it's on public property like a mall but not in your driveway. Many times I see cars parked outside the 7-11 or the curb blocking up traffic so they can get something real quick. I always tell my wife when I see one, 'Hey look...free car'.

The only problem I see are the remote start cars that are installed in some cars. My co-worker has one and it's pretty nice.

[johnnymk]

What if you just added a feature to your remote starter that the car becomes charged for a few minutes and the thief gets electrocuted while attempting to break into your car?

[Jeffbx]

I can see this one being challenged in court by the folks with remote starters. I don't know about 3rd party remotes, but in my Saturn the doors are still locked and you still need a key to 'turn on' all of the accessories & unlock the steering wheel. Just because the car is running it's no easier to steal than if it was off and locked.

I imagine it has much more to do with this:


Several months ago, Forest Park police adopted an ordinance based on the 1974 state law, which means the city gets to keep the fines instead of sharing revenue with the state.

than anything else.

[bachviet]

You guys up North are getting screwed in the winter. Good thing I live in SoCal so I don't have to worry about warming up the car.

[johnnymk]

You guys up North are getting screwed in the winter. Good thing I live in SoCal so I don't have to worry about warming up the car.

:pfft:

[DarkFury]

You guys up North are getting screwed in the winter. Good thing I live in SoCal so I don't have to worry about warming up the car.
If you keep your car in the garage, then you really don't have to worry about it either. :D

But hey.. I remote start my truck in the Summer too to cool it off as well. :thumb:


Besides, when my truck is remote started... if you attempt to put it in gear (thus requiring you to press the brake which automatically shuts the engine off...) it will cut off on you. Also, while the remote start is on, the vehicle is "armed" so as soon as the door opens, the alarm goes off.

Sounds like a very weak law to me.... but yeah there are folks out there that like to warm their cars the old fashioned way by locking one set of keys inside the car and using a 2nd set to open the car when it is warm. Those folks would be at risk to theft.

[Napoleon54]

Stupid, stupid law. If people want to risk their cars getting stolen, that's their decision. Better idea would be to hand out fliers to make people aware of the risk. Educate people, rather than continue to compromise the idea of personal responsibility.

[stufine]

what if the garage is attached to the house.. chance of dying there. the question would be does the remote start bypass the unattended part of the law.. the law doesnt say it cant have an electronic attendant.

I think it the town in Ga. myself. on the way back from vacation we stopped to get gas and a bite in a small town (who knows the name) off 75. thought it was weird the the truckers were going across and getting back on the highway.. we turned right and noticed a couple cops had people pulled over.. no big deal we thought. but as soon as they were done they pulled the next person over. this went on non-stop for the time we filled up and left..... we werent sticking around. i bet they pulled 20 cars over in the time it took us to fill up.. lady in the store said .. its the end of the month and their checking for lic/reg/ins... its all about the money! period!

[DarkFury]

what if the garage is attached to the house.. chance of dying there.
I'm guessing that this part was reflective of what I said (since I didn't see any other mention of garages other than what I posted...

I don't have a remote start on my car in the Garage... my truck sits outside so it has one on it. Since my car is in the garage, it really doesn't need the remote start as it doesn't tend to freeze like the truck outside does.

Personally, I wouldn't remote start any vehicle inside of a building due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

[fillup0215]

hahahaha!

[Nanotech9]

what if you standing inside your house watching your car?

how about those cops going around writing tickets devote more attention to catching the thieves, and make the punishment for stealing a car a lot more strict (maybe death? lol) and i'll be car theft will go WAY down. Public hangings really "drive" a message home lol.

so basically, instead of having your car stolen and paying insurance premiums, the police just write you a ticket and steal your money and they do less work and you still end up worse off.

[renovation]

I know here the cops and EMS keep their cars running the whole shift. I have had cop cars in my driveway running for hours while friends are visiting or I was giving them computer lessons (ok we were downloading movies off MIRC). I agree they have to be ready to run in a moments notice, but talk about wasting gas. Here its not like you see on TV: the police cars are parked outside not in a warm parking garage and the only time these cars are in a building is when they bring in someone to book them. And in the winter here it can go down as low as -25 or as warm as 100+ degrees. On a side note NEVER BUY A USED POLICE CAR: they may have low mileage but its rough mileage on them. If you think you know someone who's hard on a car cops really know how to trash a car and have it not show. :)