Is It Illegal to Leave Your Car Running?

Is it really illegal to leave your car running unattended in your driveway (for example, when using automatic startup)? What kind of penalties would you face for that? — Cassandra Toth

Chief Edward Harris: The Michigan Motor Vehicle Code (R28-1458 & 257.676) prohibits “leaving a vehicle unattended on any street or any other place without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition and removing the ignition key. This provision does not apply to a vehicle that was manufactured with an ignition system that does not have a key and that is incapable of being locked.”

That being said, I think that a person who has a remote-start system on his or her vehicle where a key is not necessary would not be in violation. Anyone who starts their vehicle manually, with a key, and then leaves the key in the vehicle while it is running would be in violation and subject to a civil infraction ticket.

Thank you for the question.

If you have a question you'd like White Lake Police Chief Edward Harris to answer here, e-mail AsktheChiefWhiteLake@gmail.com.