LEAVING KEYS IN CAR IS OPEN INVITATION TO THIEVES

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Don’t make life easy for car thieves by leaving your car keys in the ignition.  It might seem harmless to leave a car running in a store’s parking lot while you dash inside “just for a minute.”  But that minute is all opportunistic thieves need to take off with your vehicle. Making the scenario potentially worse is when children are left unattended in a vehicle.  Not only is this dangerous, it’s also a crime.

A 60-year-old man suffered the consequences of leaving his keys in his car when he went into a convenience store near Daytona Beach January 15th.  He watched as a man jumped into the unlocked vehicle, used the keys left in the ignition to start it up, and then speed away.  His car was later recovered, but the theft could have been easily prevented by simply taking his keys with him.  There are other similar incidents where vehicles were stolen because spare keys left inside were easily found or the owner was distracted and forgot to take the keys with him or her.

Deputies want to prevent crime, not write a bunch of tickets.  However, leaving keys in the ignition of an unattended vehicle is a nonmoving traffic violation subject to a $116 fine.  Even more significantly, it’s a crime to leave a child younger than six years old unattended in a vehicle.  The person responsible for doing so could face a second-degree misdemeanor if the child is left for more than 15 minutes. If the vehicle is running or the child is in danger, the responsible person could also face a noncriminal traffic fine of up to $500.  Deputies will be vigilant for all of these infractions, especially in convenience store and grocery store parking lots where motorists most often leave keys in their cars or leave the engine running.