KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With a drop in temperatures on Monday and cool weather expected to continue into Wednesday morning, people want to get into a warm and cozy car immediately.
One way to do that is to go outside, start your car and leave it running until it’s warmed up.
But is that a legal practice?
In Kansas City, Missouri, it's illegal to leave a running vehicle unattended.
A spokesperson for the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department said a driver can be issued a citation for leaving a vehicle unattended.
"We see time and time again where people will go outside to warm up their car in the morning or leave it their car running when they run into the convenience store and come back out to the vehicle gone," said Donna Drake, a spokesperson for KCPD. "This time of year, thieves are looking for this very thing, because it’s a very easy crime when the keys are left in the vehicle and only takes seconds."
Across the state line in Kansas, the rules are similar.
In Overland Park and Kansas City, Kansas, a vehicle should not be unattended unless the vehicle is stopped and the engine is off.
For both cities, an unattended vehicle does not mean when an engine is activated by a remote starter system while the vehicle is locked and the keys are not in the ignition.
That means you can heat up your vehicle and leave it unattended by using a system such as an auto remote start or keyless entry.
City ordinance also allows for drivers to start their car with one set of keys, lock the car, and then return later with another set of keys.
“The biggest repercussion is coming out to find your vehicle is gone,” KCKPD spokesperson Nancy Chartrand said. “That happens every year, so this is a great reminder – and it doesn’t matter where you live. It happens across the metro. Folks just don’t understand how quickly this can happen.”
Writing a ticket for an unattended vehicle is up to an officer’s discretion in KCK, with a ticket costing $55 and then $23.50 for court costs. In Overland Park, an offense will cost $91 if an officer chooses to issue the fine.
“If it makes an impression that keeps a resident from losing their car to an opportunistic thief, it is worth the cost,” Chartrand said.
In Overland Park, the rules regarding unattended vehicles do not apply to public or private utility service vehicles or to emergency vehicles either in use during an emergency or in the performance of law enforcement, firefighting, rescue or medical duties, including vehicles transporting canines as part of a law enforcement function.
—
