The Nanny in Nashville
In Nashville, it’s illegal to warm up your car:
Many people start their cars in the morning before a commute to warm it up before they use it, but one man was given a ticket for it, and he said police have gone too far.
Steve Hatfield said he and his business partners were warming up their cars Thursday morning in the parking lot of their Hermitage bar when a Metro police officer, they said, started writing tickets.
Click here to find out more!“Basically, what they told me was, it’s illegal to warm your car if you’re not in it. And it is a violation, and I do have a ticket stating that,” Hatfield said.
Guys, it’s cold out in the winter. People like toasty cars. I guess Nashville has taken care of its other crime problems.
February 2nd, 2007 at 10:49 am
I have remote starters here in Michigan.
I have been told by cops that it is “not a good idea”, but I didn’t get a ticket.
But a remote starter is a lot different than using your keys and running back inside.
It is illegal to leave an unattended vehicle running.
February 2nd, 2007 at 10:50 am
I should clarify; It is illegal to leave a running vehicle unattended.
That’s probably what the law says, and it probably makes no distinction for cars with remote starters.
It should probably be clarified, but it will probably be used as an income generator.
February 2nd, 2007 at 11:06 am
I don’t know if it’s illegal here in WA, but I do know that car theft goes up quite a bit in the winter, due to folks going back inside and leaving their car warming up in the driveway. Thieves’ paradise.
February 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 am
Illegal in WA (RCW 46.61.600) also; $101 fine. Actually a little stronger than just not running: (1) No person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition, removing the key and effectively setting the brake thereon and, when standing upon any perceptible grade, turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the highway.
So it sure sounds like even remote starters that don’t use the key and won’t even allow the car to continue running without the key are still not okay to use.
Damn busybodies.
February 2nd, 2007 at 12:15 pm
But Global Warming…
February 2nd, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Ask them to write themselves a ticket because without a doubt their car is still running!
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I suppose we ought to warm up our cars in the garage with the door closed so the cops can’t see it, huh?
I start my car and go back in the house every morning if it’s below 30f. I do lock the car door while it’s warming up… I have an extra key for just that purpose. If someone really wants to steal my 4 year old Echo… well, I guess they’re going to get it one way or another.
(yeah, leaving your vehicle running in a closed garage was supposed to be FUNNY!)
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Morons. In truly cold climates, do they honestly expect you to sit shivering in your frozen car for 10-15 minutes warming it up when it’s -20 degrees outside? I guarantee you that you don’t want to start driving until everything is thoroughly warmed up, especially the glass.
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Illegal To Leave Cars Running in Nashville
(Sorry for some duplicate info; I am trying to use a trackback.) This is simply insanity. Why are they worrying about this. If they want to find the real problem, then the cops need to look at themselves. I almost never see a cop car or ambulance…
February 2nd, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Uncle,
I have been trying to talk my wife into moving to Tennessee and this post does not help. (Don’t worry. I am not really a Chicagoan, if that’s the problem.) 😉
February 2nd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
nk, just go 200ish miles further east to knoxville. that’s about where i’m at.
February 2nd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
in truly cold climates people use electric engine block heaters, with optional electric blower cabin heaters to wit.
frankly, i’m not sure why i haven’t seen those much here in Michigan. i’d’ve thought they’d be popular, but apparently not.
February 2nd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
“I guarantee you that you don’t want to start driving until everything is thoroughly warmed up, especially the glass.” Amen to that. “Thoroughly warmed up” is a bit of an overstatement, (and my truck WILL NOT really warm up at an idle), but here in Michigan, most mornings winter and summer the glass cleaning the ice or dew off the glass doesn’t do a bit of good until it’s warmed up several degrees above the air – it just fogs right back up until you get it well above the dew point.
I’ve been meaning to look more into an electric block heater and a timer for it, but the ones I’ve seen so far seem to be set to just warm it up enough to keep the oil liquid enough to start (which isn’t a problem in MI, at least in the lower peninsula), not to reach the >100F block temperatures you need to start getting warmth out of your heater. 12VDC cabin heaters are so feeble you might as well not bother. If I put in a 120VAC heater and ran it off house current … after I went through all the trouble of burying a cable out to the driveway and putting a weatherproof outlet on a post, I could step into a warm truck cab, get halfway to work, and then the windshield would freeze over because the engine still wasn’t warm…
February 2nd, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Um, isn’t it true that repeatedly driving your car in very cold weather without giving it time to warm up can eventually lead to serious damage to the motor/engine, or at least cause undue wear and tear and stress on it? That’s what I have been told pretty much my entire life…
Even if not, like Chris, I have extra keys for that purpose. This seems a pretty silly police issue to me and I’m certain without a doubt the police in Memphis should have better things to worry about anyway…. yeesh.
February 2nd, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I usually leave a trail of doughnuts leading to my wierd neighbor’s POT patch,and Officer Obie forgets all about my unattended idling car crime spree.Chief Serpas is such a hoot!
February 2nd, 2007 at 5:32 pm
actually, the cabin heaters i was used to growing up in northern europe ran on house current pulled off the engine block heater. when installing that engine heater, the mechanic just pulled an extension cable through the firewall and put a grounded 220VAC outlet in the passenger seat foot well…
getting the power out to where you park the car is, of course, just as much work anyway. but you have to do that in order to run the engine block heater to begin with, so that effort’s a given, IMO. except that few do it, here; few people in my state put on snow tires, either – another thing i keep thinking is odd. maybe it’s just me…
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I’m a big believer in remote starters. My father-in-law had a neighbor who owed his life to a remote starter. If this fellow, part owner of a couple Italian restaurants and a commercial laundry, had been in the car when it started, the bomb would have smeared him across the headliner.
February 2nd, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Interesting, but predictable. A personal choice has been made a crime in order to prevent a crime ? Is this because governments have a power to predict the future? After all, how do they know if your car is one that will be stolen? The real problem here is that the police have no authority to prevent crime; since – until it actually takes place – no crime has been committed. The lawful function of a police force is to respond to crime, not prevent somehting that hasn’t happened yet.