A Michigan man is “shaking his head” after he received a parking ticket for leaving his car running in his own driveway, keeping it warm as he entered his home to retrieve an item. The fine is $128.
Nick Taylor told a local news affiliate that he couldn’t have been inside his home more than seven or eight minutes, apparently giving a cop enough time to pull up, write the citation and vanish. Taylor says he never saw the cop, just the ticket on his windshield.
“I was in and out in probably about 7-8 minutes,” Trumpiano told the local reporter. “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.”
Taylor was cited for leaving the vehicle unattended with the keys in the ignition and the engine running.
He said at first he thought it was a joke, but then his disbelief turned to anger, so he went to vent on Facebook and let the cop have it:
“Let’s all take a moment to thank officer dips*** K. Keary for wasting the taxpayer’s money and giving me a ticket for warming up my car in my own damn driveway.”
Taylor told another local reporter he now regrets using such language against the police and maybe he should, he is due in court on January 26 where a judge will decide his fate.
However, the news station spoke to Chief James Berlin, who tried to explain the ordinance.
“This is purely a public safety issue. You can’t do it. You see it all the time, people hop in a running car and steal them. Something bad happens when that occurs,” Berlin told the reporter.
According to the station, the citation lists Taylor as violating ordinance 99006. However, the news station says they have uncovered no corresponding city ordinance or state law. Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw confirmed to the reporter that there is no state law prohibiting letting a vehicle idle in your driveway.
Nonetheless, Chief Berlin continued to justify the actions of the officer, saying this car did not have safety features available like auto-start or other anti-theft protections, so the ticket had to be written.
[image via screengrab]
