This morning my sister-in-law received a ticket for warming up her car.  Her son had been sick and she didn't want to put him in a cold car - so she decided to start the car and let it run for about 10 minutes to get the heater going.

When she went outside to put her son in the car and go to work - she noticed the police officer writing her a ticket.  She didn't understand why and therefore asked.  He explained to her that it was against the law to leave a car with the motor running unattended and wrote the ticket.  Of course she informed him that she didn't know this law and asked for a warning as she has never received a ticket before in the 19 years that she has been driving.  Sadly the answer was no - and after 19 years my sister-in-law has received her first ticket.

But as I'm reading this story unfold on Facebook (because that's where I get my "headline news") I noticed that some folks really didn't believe that leaving your vehicle running unattended is against the law!  Some of her friends were even encouraging her to "fight it".  So I did some research and reached out to my friend at LPD (thanks Jason) to find out if it really is illegal.  And YES - it is.  You can read the Texas Transportation Code below.

So - now you know - it IS against the law in the state of Texas to leave your vehicle running and unattended and you WILL get a ticket for it!

But does this mean that vehicles with "remote starts" are illegal?  I will research this and let you know...

 

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