Bill description: Yes, this bill says, you may leave your car unattended while it warms up during the winter months.

Rating: +1

Does it directly or indirectly create or increase penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non- violent crimes? Conversely, does it eliminate or decrease penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes? 

Idaho Code 49-602 is worded in a way that prohibits individuals from leaving their vehicles while the engine is running. The statute passed in 1988. With new technologies like automatic starters, designed to allow a vehicle to warm up in cold weather, this language becomes a prohibition. Rather than insisting individuals are “stopping the engine, locking the ignition, [and] removing the key from the ignition,” this new language has them “locking the vehicle if the engine is running”. This proposal decreases the potential for a traffic citation for a victimless crime. (+1)