Did you know Wyoming’s law against vehicle idling goes back to 1955 and was last updated in 1984. To review, don't crank and go back inside on winter mornings, or there could be a fine involved.

Cheyenne Police Chief Information Officer Kevin Malatesta told me “a majority" of car thefts in Cheyenne are a result of people breaking the idling law. Think about how a criminal sees it, “Hey, free car.” I won't ask how an insurance agent sees it.

If you're curious about no idling laws elsewhere, click here to check out 32 other states. Many of them wrote their laws quite different, along with varied fines (up to $1,000 in Connecticut).

In a long PDF file from epa.gov, there's a hodgepodge of info on idling that includes how some local city laws vary. For instance, on page 98, the City of Rawlins, Wyoming has a little wiggle room on how long a car can be left idling. A vehicle owner “shall have five minutes from the time of the police arrival to shut off or move the vehicle.” Yes, there's a grace period of five minutes, which for a thief might as well be an hour.

Cheyenne made no local change to the Cowboy State’s rules, which leaves just the state law's no wiggle. Anywhere in Wyoming where there is no local law is state law, which says to turn it off when exiting the vehicle. It's the same in Casper, but in 2010, Jackson opted to require the engine off as soon as the car is parked, with or without driver in it.

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