Kansas Police Ticketing People For 'Illegally' Warming Up Their Cars

ROELAND PARK, Kan. - A split second decision you make in the morning might cost you a $125 ticket.

If you live in Kansas, you could be breaking the law and not even know it.

We're all probably guilty of this at some point. You hop in your car, fire it up, then leave your keys in the ignition as you run inside to finish getting ready or grab the kids.

In Kansas, that's illegal and it'll cost you.

Police officers in Roeland Park are cracking down this winter. You might notice officers cruising through neighborhoods looking for running cars. Once they spot one, the officer will jump out of his or her vehicle and checks to see if keys are in the ignition.

Last week, in just a two-hour span, one officer wrote nine tickets and gave four warnings.

Officer John DeMoss says they're not trying to bully drivers but keep thieves at bay.

"Your car can be stolen in a matter of seconds. During my recent enforcement I did stop, go up to the vehicle and look inside the car or open the door and a lot of times the owner of the car never came outside to contact me and say hey what are you doing around my car? That's plenty of time for somebody to steal your vehicle," DeMoss said.

It happens more often than you think. In just the past month, 38 cars have been stolen in Johnson County while the owner was warming them up. Most of those, 21, were reported in Overland Park.

Last winter, in Johnson County alone, more than 60 cars were stolen while left running idle.