Is it Legal to Warm Your Car Up in Your Driveway in Oklahoma?

We all know the drill. Wake up, get ready, and warm up the vehicle so it's not cold when you head into work... but is that legal to do in Oklahoma?

Even though the state's biggest moneymaker is oil and gas, which I'm sure every O&G worker would agree that letting your vehicle sit idle for a while each day is a good thing for the bottom line, it is in fact and shockingly an illegal thing to do in Oklahoma.

Unlike other states that have banned this ordinary and universal practice based on emissions and ecological assumptions, Oklahoma's law specifies that it is illegal to leave your running vehicle unattended.

It Depends On The Officer

Even though it is technically illegal due to the state statute (47 OK State § 47–11–1101), a misdemeanor punishable by a levied fine, it's really up to the responding officer to make the decision to cite you or not.

After a short Q&A on the topic with a few of Lawton's boys in blue, they overwhelmingly said this is something that isn't normally addressed during periods of cold weather. They get it. They also choose to let their cruisers warm up before starting their shift when it's freezing out.

It Really, Really Depends On The Officer

All the same, they couldn't help that while few would bother writing such an understandingly frivolous ticket, there are some that get a little happy with their ticket book.

It all comes down to how often a badged individual watches Road House... at least that's the punchline they all laughed about. The simple answer is, while most law enforcement members are earning a living and hate being the bad guy, there are some officers that look forward to ruining your day on a technicality... their words, not mine.

All in all, if you spend your warm-up time scraping windows or setting out the garbage, you have nothing to worry about since your vehicle won't be unattended.

All the same, LPD does little to combat the running of red turning lights at Cache & Sheridan due to the shockingly low numbers of officers on patrol at any given moment, so the odds one of Lawton's finest will be cruising through your neighborhood in the morning is overall pretty rare.