"In Nanaimo, Canada, Tara Ludvigson-Hill thought someone was playing a joke on her when she received an $81 ticket for parking her car with the windows rolled down.

When Ludvigson-Hill parked at her workplace on a hot day, she left her windows open and thought nothing of it. She told the Nanaimo Daily News, "I've been parking in the same spot for years and when the weather is hot, I leave my windows open. I have never heard of anything so ridiculous."

The citation was issued for violation of Section 191 subsection 2 of the British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act which states that parked vehicles must be secured. Like many others, Ludvigson-Hill was not aware of the law. The officer told her that ignorance of the law was not an excuse, but eventually gave her a warning and no fine was issued."

It's very real. That law exists in several provinces including where I live in Quebec.

I thought this thread would be about a deadly fog that turns your insides out or makes you a zombie.

So what will happen if you have a convertible?

Don't be surprised to find out that chavs will have clogged it up with sick.

I've done it AND left a six pack of nice beer sitting in the front seat while I went into a different store. If you're in the right neighborhood it simply doesn't matter.

I've spent years leaving my cars unlocked in front of my house. I tend not to leave valuables sitting in them, but yeah, it just doesn't matter and someone ripping off my car jack and spare tire wouldn't put me out financially.

As the first post explains: But anyway, she wasn't actually fined so why is this news?

Isn't it a private citizens car? What business is it to anyone else if it's secure or not?


In one of the small towns I lived in people would, on a cold snowy day, leave the doors unlocked, keys in the ignition and engine running at the grocery store if they were only picking up a few things. Everyone thought that I was rude because I kept my car doors locked.

I look at it from a different perspective. It's not a matter of whether or not I live in / frequent a good neighbourhood but rather: am I willing to deal with bullshit?
It's a simple cost-benefit analysis:
I can leave my car doors and windows open because there is a 99% chance that nothing will happen. Or I can take those TWO SECONDS to close them in order to prevent that 1% chance of someone stealing / wrecking my car / my belongings, etc. Ultimately you have a lot more to lose with the former option than you have with the other. Well, I guess you're right. I suppose I won't bother closing the door to my flat either when the summer comes around again. Gets mighty hot in here.

Obviously it's there to to cut down on car theft reports.

The problem here is that presumably in Canada, like the US, most of the politicians are lawyers and there's never been any consideration made for the fact that most people don't have the time or know how to consult the law books every time they make a decision.

I'm sure in the past it was reasonable to assume that people could know all the relevant laws related to motorvehicles and whatnot, but a lot of people don't. In the US it's actually illegal to go too slowly. It's also generally illegal to travel the speed limit if conditions don't permit for people to drive safely at that speed.

The ticket would presumably have been legal, nice to see the officer exercising some judgment in giving a warning rather than a citation.

I'm always puzzled when it's presumed that people have the option of consulting an attorney every single time they're asked to sign something. If people did that, then most folks would have very little to sign as they would have spent all their money on legal bills.

That never occurred to you before? Pro tip: open your windows too, if you have any.

This seems to infringe a bit on a person's liberties, but many laws are on the books to protect people from their own stupidity. And if you go through the laws there are tons of silly things. I forget where, but it's actually illegal to paint a bird yellow.

Back home it used to be illegal to take a drink from the bar to the table without having a bar tending license.

And the purpose is presumably to make theft somewhat less convenient. I'm sure they still get "smash and grabs" and people breaking into cars, but it increases the likelihood of catching somebody red handed.

I have to do that anyway. Due to the horrible stench of the traps I set up in my bathroom should I have any wombats crawling out of my toilet.