HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

149th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 224

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO UNATTENDED MOTOR VEHICLES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend § 4182, Title 21 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strikethrough and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 4182 Unattended motor vehicle.

(a) No person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition, removing the key and effectively setting the brake thereon and, when standing upon any grade, turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the highway.

(b) The requirements of subsection (a) of this section do not apply to an operator who starts the engine of a vehicle by using a remote starter or other similar device that remotely starts the vehicle’s engine without placing the key in the ignition and requires the key to be placed in the ignition or physically present in the vehicle before the vehicle can be operated.

SYNOPSIS

Car theft was the primary impetus behind state codes prohibiting a motor vehicle owner to leave a car unattended with the keys in the ignition; a common habit to warm-up the vehicle during colder months. From 2013 to 2015, a total of 206 cars were stolen in Delaware due to the owner leaving the keys in the car while unattended; of these, 12 went unrecovered. Improved technology, such as remote starters, has instigated changes to these outdated statutes in several states. This Act excludes motor vehicles that are started by a remote starter or other similar device without a key in the ignition and that would be rendered inoperable without the key in the ignition or present within the vehicle.