Posted on 01/10/2017 5:35:58 AM PST by outpostinmass2
ROSEVILLE, Mich. (WXYZ) - Did you know you could get fined for heating up your car? One man's parking ticket has gone viral, with thousands of views after he was ticketed for heating up his car in his own driveway.
Taylor Trupiano says he's still shaking his head over a parking ticket he got on his own property.
"I thought it was some kind of joke at first, and then I was thrown back by it," he said. "I was really surprised."
The ticket was for leaving the keys in the ignition with the motor running and no one around. Trupiano said he was only doing something many people in Michigan do during the winter.
"I was in and out in probably about 7-8 minutes," he added. "So in that amount of time he ran up here, gave me a ticket and by the time I got out he was nowhere to be seen."
Frustrated with the ticket, he posted a photo on Facebook where he racked up thousands of comments and shares.
The Roseville Police Department ticket comes with a $128 fine. There is no state law against leaving your car turned on and unattended, but dozens of cities across Michigan have local ordinances.
"We have five to ten cars stolen this way every winter," Roseville Police Chief James Berlin said. "It's dangerous, and of course it drives everyone's insurance rates up. It drives our crime rates up."
Many of the ordinances will allow you to use a remote start because the vehicle is locked.
Berlin tells 7 Action News they will not apologize and in fact, he encourages his officers to enforce this law.
"It's common sense. We can't warn everybody of the law there is. Common sense says you don't leave your car running unattended," Berlin said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wxyz.com ...
Common sense dictates that the citizens of this township elect a police chief more conversant with reason and the constitution.
Apparently this law has not been challenged yet in court.
If I ever need a car, I know where to get it.
6:00AM at 7/11.
“It takes away such a basic freedom: Property rights. Your vehicle is on your property and the cops have the right to step on it and ticket you in your own driveway.”
We lost our basic freedom re personal property rights decades ago. Low-flow toilets which became mandatory started it all, I think.
The idea that a cop can walk onto a person’s property and ticket them for an otherwise legal activity is repugnant. It impacts the relationship between the state and the citizen. It’s also patently unfair. What if the guy has a fenced yard and an electric gate to his driveway? How does he get ticketed?
The idea that it is illegal, ON YOUR OWN PROPERTY, to walk away from your car while it is idling is patently absurd.
Wow. All the more reason to just keep my old f150 running.
“Those in gated communities will be immune to this ordinance, it’s OK”
My brother warmed up his truck in the garage very early one winter morning(door open). Went inside for coffee. Came out a few minutes later and the truck was gone.
Many people in Canada do this in the winter.
Warms up the car, helps melt ice and snow from the windshield, etc.
And if was on the man’s private property, what business is it for the authorities? Even if it was in a public parking lot, if he wants to risk the loss of the car, it’s his choice.
Berlin needs to read the U.S. Constitution.
...
I would say the law is constitutional based on what the police chief said.
Low-flow toilets which became mandatory started it all, I think.
What gives the police officer the right to go on private property? I guess he can argue that he saw a crime in progress.
When I lived in Calgary, I made the mistake of starting my truck, one winter’s day, and immediately driving. Within minutes I had a coating of ice on the inside of every window from my breath. So I had to pull over until it heated up. After that, every winter morning, I started it up and went back inside for breakfast. Problem solved.
I believe it. It isn’t safe to drive in a cold car.
I recall an incident in Fort Worth at the fed building some years ago. Seems they were doing some work in the basement which housed parking. It meant changing the traffic flow so one had to enter the exit ramp. Some federal rent a cop was sitting behind a pillar and as cars came in down the entry ramp which was marked closed, he would ticket them. That went on till he ticketed some fed judge who asked what the hell he was doing and why he was not just directing traffic down the correct ramp rather than playing undercover cop. The judge called the fed supervisor of the cop and told him about his concerns adding I will void those tickets as ridicules. I howled when I heard that story.
My neighbor had his housed robbed while he was working in his garden in the backyard.
Should he be fined $128 too?
I grew up in the city next to Roseville. Roseville has been a dump and a joke for decades. Not a surprise that they have a stupid ordinance like this.
It’s my car, my insurance and my choice. What business is it of the police if someone steals it. Oh, they need to take ten minutes to write a report.
I don’t often pre-heat my car, but sometimes I do. My decision.
This one is worth the day in court.
For sale: 1987 Audi 5000. Low miles. Hasn’t been driven since the car started driving itself.
No, it isn't. It is called freedom and liberty to make my own threat assessment. Maybe I live in a good neighborhood. Maybe my car is a POS that no-one would bother stealing. Maybe I'm watching through the window from inside my warm house ready to step out and deter anyone who approaches my car. The upshot is, I choose to take what I believe is a very minor risk. But it is my choice. Hey, if you want people to have the freedom to choose to murder their unborn, you should allow them the freedom to risk having their car stolen...
In Alaska we used head bolt heaters and plugged in the car when getting home at night. Apartment complex parking lots, etc., had poles with outlets on them and many could be toggled on and off from indoors if you didn’t want the electric on all night. It kept the engine warm which made everything warm up quickly in the a.m.
When my friend retired we asked where he was going to go. He said he would drive south until someone asked him what that plug was hanging out of the front of the car. He figured that would be a good place to retire.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.