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Louisville Police Plan to Ticket Cars Left to Warm Up
(LOUISVILLE, Ky., February 9, 2004, 11:00 am) -- Louisville Metro Police are planning to enforce a rarely used law that could leave some drivers out in the cold.
The department says it will ticket drivers who leave their cars running while they are not inside. The practice, common during frigid temperatures when drivers allow cars to warm up, violates an oft-ignored state law and city ordinance, police say.
Police say they hope enforcing the law will decrease the number of vehicles stolen.
In the past three weeks a period of occasional frigid temperatures, snow and an ice storm 47 idling, unlocked cars have been taken from driveways and apartment and business parking lots in metro Louisville. That's more than 40 percent of the nearly 120 vehicles stolen in that period, almost a 10-percentage-point jump over what police say they typically see in winter.
"People say, 'I was only gone five minutes,' " said Capt. Steve Thompson, commander of the crime analysis unit. "But I know thieves who can steal a car without the keys in it in 30 seconds. Now when the keys are in it ... it's a made-to-order crime for a thief. It's shopping in a baited field."
Stephanie Olliges' Ford Explorer was stolen on a cold Jan. 6 when she left it to warm up in the parking lot while she ate lunch in her south Louisville apartment.
"When I went outside, my car was just gone. I'm like, 'Did I park it somewhere else?' You just don't think that's going to happen," Olliges said.
Police say it's tough to find a stolen vehicle and in these cases, the thefts occur so quickly that victims generally aren't even able to tell authorities in which direction their vehicles headed.
Police officers will ticket cars they see running and unattended when time allows and that can include in private driveways and parking lots. Police also said locking the doors on an unattended vehicle is not sufficient to avoid a ticket.
A violation means a $25 fine from the city, a $102.50 fine from state-imposed court costs, and a possible fine from the judge in the case, court officials said.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Louisville Police Plan to Ticket Cars Left to Warm Up
(LOUISVILLE, Ky., February 9, 2004, 11:00 am) -- Louisville Metro Police are planning to enforce a rarely used law that could leave some drivers out in the cold.
The department says it will ticket drivers who leave their cars running while they are not inside. The practice, common during frigid temperatures when drivers allow cars to warm up, violates an oft-ignored state law and city ordinance, police say.
Police say they hope enforcing the law will decrease the number of vehicles stolen.
In the past three weeks a period of occasional frigid temperatures, snow and an ice storm 47 idling, unlocked cars have been taken from driveways and apartment and business parking lots in metro Louisville. That's more than 40 percent of the nearly 120 vehicles stolen in that period, almost a 10-percentage-point jump over what police say they typically see in winter.
"People say, 'I was only gone five minutes,' " said Capt. Steve Thompson, commander of the crime analysis unit. "But I know thieves who can steal a car without the keys in it in 30 seconds. Now when the keys are in it ... it's a made-to-order crime for a thief. It's shopping in a baited field."
Stephanie Olliges' Ford Explorer was stolen on a cold Jan. 6 when she left it to warm up in the parking lot while she ate lunch in her south Louisville apartment.
"When I went outside, my car was just gone. I'm like, 'Did I park it somewhere else?' You just don't think that's going to happen," Olliges said.
Police say it's tough to find a stolen vehicle and in these cases, the thefts occur so quickly that victims generally aren't even able to tell authorities in which direction their vehicles headed.
Police officers will ticket cars they see running and unattended when time allows and that can include in private driveways and parking lots. Police also said locking the doors on an unattended vehicle is not sufficient to avoid a ticket.
A violation means a $25 fine from the city, a $102.50 fine from state-imposed court costs, and a possible fine from the judge in the case, court officials said.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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