Idling Cars

[Dezza]

My next door neighbour recieved a warning from the police this morning for leaving his car idling in his driveway. He had started the car and gone back into the house to let the car warm up. A passing police car spotted the car and chapped his door. The said it is an offence to leave a car idling.

What are the rules on this.?

Am I aloud to start my car on a cold morning to let it heat up and windows clear as long as i'm in the car?

Or is that still an offence?

Sometime you have to let the inside warm up to make it safe to drive, even if you scrape the outside!

[Sean-2.2Direct]

I think its if your not with the car mate as if it gets robbed

[JuzzyD]

I thought it was only an offence to leave a car idling on a public highway?

[glenboy]

So if he was sat in it would that be ok??

[poves]

The problem is , your asking for some scumbag to rob your car , then the police are gonna have to get involved and your insurance will have to give a settlement if you don't get your car back - which leads to my insurance costing more at renewal , look at it that way

And to be frank , I don't even think the insurance company would be interested if you had left the keys in or near the car.

[Ste]

It cannot be an offence if it is on private property. There are no anti-idling laws in UK.

Your insurance will be void if you leave it idling and unattended though.

[Gsi3.2]

yep, obviously we don't know all the facts, but if you leave it idling on your drive, it's of little concern to you.. but he may have just been doing you a favour, as you'd soon complain if someone nicked it..

idling isn't good for them anyway...just get in and drive gently till it's warmed up..

[mucklestone]

I thought you can do what you like on private property, as long as you don't cause a nusience. There's no law to say you can't leave your keys in your front door right?????

[Duncan]

Highway Code Paragraph 123

The Driver and the Environment. You MUST NOT leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine running or leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationary on a public road. Generally, if the vehicle is stationary and is likely to remain so for more than a couple of minutes, you should apply the parking brake and switch off the engine to reduce emissions and noise pollution. However it is permissible to leave the engine running if the vehicle is stationary in traffic or for diagnosing faults.

So if it was on your drive then it looks like you're not breaking any laws.

However, as guys said above, you're opening yourself right up to having your car nicked. That sort of theft is sooooo common as winter sets in. Opportunist thieves will be in and off in you car before you know it and some will even loiter around a street waiting for somebody to leave their car.

As others said, if your car is nicked and you left the keys in then most, if not all, insurers have a clause in the policy that won't pay out as you're deemed to have been reckless/careless with the keys.

[Dezza]

Cheers

Just thought i'd post the question as I've never heard of this happening.

I usually start the car and get the scraper out as I don't get up early enough to wait for the windows to clear