So, this is a new one on me. We all want to warm up our cars in cold weather or cool them down in humid weather, but guess what? It's illegal to leave your running/idling vehicle unattended in Kentucky. 

It's all laid out in KRS 189.430 which states "No person operating or in charge of a motor vehicle shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition, and removing the key". The biggest reason the law is important is that your vehicle may be vulnerable to theft.

There was an attempt in February of 2017 to amend the law that would allow a motor vehicle to idle for no more than 15 minutes and that the doors be locked while it is idling but the amendment died.

We then revisit the old debate, should you even warm/cool down your car at all? It would definitely save some gas if we didn't. But if you don't like being cold, like me, what's the harm? if I'm scraping ice and snow off my vehicle anyway. It's not technically unattended. There are pros and cons.

The other point, it would be impossible to ticket every single person who warmed up their car especially if it's on their property and he or she can keep an eye on it. I would just be careful.

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