Virginia Car Idling Laws: No Unattended Vehicle Section

Q: Does it matter whether the car was locked in Virginia?

There is no Virginia section for the lock to matter to. In the 9 states that do have one built around it, the word "unlocked" or "unsecured" sits in the operative sentence, and those states are listed on the national page.

Q: Can you leave a car running in your own driveway in Virginia?

Virginia has no unattended vehicle section, so there is no state rule to reach a driveway or a street. A city ordinance can, and it is the city rather than the state that would be publishing it.

Q: What does Virginia charge for it?

Nothing, because there is no section. The 18 states that print a penalty beside this rule are collected on the national page.

Q: How current is this?

Every line was read on September 23, 2026, off the state's own published code, and links back to the section it came from. Legislatures amend these between sessions and a repeal leaves the old text in circulation for years afterwards, so the link beside each quote is what governs on the day.

No state section

Leaving it running unattended

16 states read the same way

Nothing to decide

Whether the lock matters

9 states of the 34 are built on it

Not applicable

How far the chapter reaches

20 states confine theirs to a road

three minutes when the vehicle is parked

Separate idling limit

9VAC5-40-5670 C

September 23, 2026

Read

off the state’s own code

The short answer

Virginia has no unattended vehicle section in its code.

Virginia has no unattended motor vehicle section about the engine in its vehicle code at all. Virginia's vehicle code carries no section requiring a driver to stop the engine or take the key before leaving a vehicle unattended, and what the state does have is an air quality rule capping engines at three minutes when commercial and public service vehicles are parked in urban areas. 16 states came back the same way, against 34 that do carry one, so the question in Virginia runs to the ordinances of the city a car is standing in and to whatever a policy says about a vehicle taken with its key in it.

No sectionNo section in the vehicle codeA separate idling limit at 9VAC5-40-5670 C

What the code does say

Nothing in the Virginia vehicle code reaches a running car left alone

The reading covered the Virginia vehicle code looking for an unattended motor vehicle section that says anything about the engine, which is the section the 34 states that do prohibit this use. There is not one.

An absence read on one day off a state's own code is an answer to the question rather than a hole in the page, so it is printed as one. What still reaches a car standing on a street in Virginia is a city ordinance, published by the city rather than by the state.

No unattended vehicle section in the Virginia code

Virginia's vehicle code carries no section requiring a driver to stop the engine or take the key before leaving a vehicle unattended, and what the state does have is an air quality rule capping engines at three minutes when commercial and public service vehicles are parked in urban areas.

Code of Virginia, Title 46.2 Motor Vehicles, Virginia General Assembly (Division of Legislative Automated Systems), read September 23, 2026

The other law entirely

Virginia also runs an emissions idling limit

Virginia does run an emissions idling limit, one of 16 states that do. It is three minutes when the vehicle is parked for vehicles licensed for commercial or public service use, in commercial or residential urban areas. It is the only thing Virginia publishes on this, and it is not the rule a car in a driveway would be measured against.

The two are kept apart on this page for the same reason they are apart in the books. An unattended vehicle section sits in the vehicle code and exists to stop a car being taken. An idling limit is an air quality regulation, written by an environmental agency, aimed mostly at buses and at trucks above a weight, and enforced by somebody else. Only 16 states publish one at all, and 2 of those name the regulation without putting a figure where a reader can reach it.

three minutes when the vehicle is parked

Emissions regulation

What it covers vehicles licensed for commercial or public service use, in commercial or residential urban areas
Citation 9VAC5-40-5670 C
Published by State Air Pollution Control Board

C. In commercial or residential urban areas, propulsion engines of motor vehicles licensed for commercial or public service use shall not be left running for more than three minutes when the vehicle is parked, unless the propulsion engine is providing auxiliary power for other than heating or air conditioning; except that: 1. Tour buses may idle for up to 10 minutes during hot weather in order to maintain power to the air conditioning system; and 2. Diesel powered vehicles may idle for up to 10 minutes to minimize restart problems.

State Air Pollution Control Board, read September 23, 2026

A low angle view inside an inspection garage, a car raised on a lift with a sampling hose run into its tailpipe, and an inspector standing in silhouette against the window watching it — The other law on these pages. An idling limit is an air quality regulation, written by an environment department, measured in minutes of engine running, and it is what most searches about this return. “Car being checked at an auto emission inspection station in Norwood, Ohio (DOCUMERICA, NARA 557848)”, Lyntha Scott Eiler for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Public Domain

How Virginia compares

The same question in the other forty nine

34 states prohibit leaving a car running unattended and 16 have no section for it. Of the 34, 9 turn on whether the car was left unsecured, 20 sit in a chapter that reaches a road and nothing else, and 5 apply wherever the car is standing.

The bar splits the fifty by what their section does, and the table beneath it puts the strictest reading first, which is not the order a reader would guess from a map of how cold it gets.

5Always

9If unlocked

17Highways

3Public ways

16No section

Fifty state vehicle codes read September 23, 2026, strictest reading first.
State	What the section does	Citation	Turns on the lock	Separate idling limit
Kentucky	AlwaysProhibited wherever the car is standing	KRS 189.430	No	No
Louisiana	AlwaysProhibited wherever the car is standing	La. R.S. 32:145	No	No
Nevada	AlwaysProhibited wherever the car is standing	NRS 484B.530	No	No
Utah	AlwaysProhibited wherever the car is standing	Utah Code 41-6a-1403	No	No
Vermont	AlwaysProhibited wherever the car is standing	23 V.S.A. § 1111	No	Yes
Colorado	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	C.R.S. 42-4-1206	Yes	No
Florida	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	Fla. Stat. § 316.1975	Yes	No
Idaho	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	Idaho Code 49-602	Yes	No
Illinois	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	625 ILCS 5/11-1401	Yes	Yes
Kansas	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	K.S.A. 8-1573	Yes	No
Maryland	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	Md. Code Ann., Transp. 21-1101	Yes	Yes
New Hampshire	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	RSA 265:72	Yes	Yes
Ohio	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	Ohio Rev. Code 4511.661	Yes	No
Texas	If unlockedOnly where the car was left unlocked or the key left in it	Tex. Transp. Code Sec. 545.404	Yes	Yes
Alabama	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	Ala. Code Section 32-5A-50	No	No
Alaska	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	13 AAC 02.480	No	No
California	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	Cal. Veh. Code 22515	No	Yes
Delaware	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	21 Del. C. § 4182	No	Yes
Hawaii	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	HRS 291C-121	No	No
Michigan	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	Mich. Comp. Laws 257.676	No	No
Mississippi	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	Miss. Code Ann. 63-3-909	No	No
Nebraska	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	Neb. Rev. Stat. 60-6,168	No	No
New Jersey	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	N.J.S.A. 39:4-137	No	Yes
New Mexico	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	NMSA 1978, Section 66-7-353	No	No
New York	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	N.Y. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1210	No	Yes
Oklahoma	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	47 O.S. 11-1101	No	No
Oregon	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	ORS 811.585	No	Yes
Pennsylvania	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	75 Pa.C.S. § 3701	No	Yes
South Carolina	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	S.C. Code Ann. SECTION 56-5-2570	No	No
Tennessee	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	Tenn. Code Ann. 55-8-162	No	No
Washington	HighwaysProhibited, but the chapter reaches highways only	RCW 46.61.600	No	No
Massachusetts	Public waysProhibited, but the statute reaches a public way only	M.G.L. c. 90, § 13	No	Yes
North Carolina	Public waysProhibited, but the statute reaches a public way only	N.C.G.S. § 20-163	No	No
Rhode Island	Public waysProhibited, but the statute reaches a public way only	R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-22-1	No	Yes
Arizona	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
Arkansas	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
Connecticut	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	Yes
Georgia	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
Indiana	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
Iowa	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	Iowa Code 321.362	No	No
Maine	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	Yes
Minnesota	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
Missouri	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
Montana	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	Mont. Code Ann. 61-8-357	No	No
North Dakota	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
South Dakota	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	SDCL 32-30-5	No	No
Virginia	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	Yes
West Virginia	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
Wisconsin	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	No section	No	No
Wyoming	No sectionNo unattended vehicle section in the code	W.S. 31-5-509	No	No

Virginia car idling questions

Is it illegal to leave your car running unattended in Virginia?

Virginia has no unattended motor vehicle section about the engine in its vehicle code at all. Virginia's vehicle code carries no section requiring a driver to stop the engine or take the key before leaving a vehicle unattended, and what the state does have is an air quality rule capping engines at three minutes when commercial and public service vehicles are parked in urban areas. 16 states came back the same way, against 34 that do carry one, so the question in Virginia runs to the ordinances of the city a car is standing in and to whatever a policy says about a vehicle taken with its key in it.

Which Virginia law actually covers this?

None. The reading covered the Virginia vehicle code and found no unattended motor vehicle section addressing the engine, which is what the 34 states that have one use. Virginia's vehicle code carries no section requiring a driver to stop the engine or take the key before leaving a vehicle unattended, and what the state does have is an air quality rule capping engines at three minutes when commercial and public service vehicles are parked in urban areas.

Does it matter whether the car was locked in Virginia?

Can you leave a car running in your own driveway in Virginia?

What does Virginia charge for it?

Does Virginia have an idling limit?

How current is this?

Car idling laws in every state

Virginia studded tire lawThe other winter driving rule a state writes and a city can change, with the dates each one sets.Virginia sidewalk snow rulesHow long a city gives before the walk has to be clear, quoted from the ordinance that sets it.Virginia frozen pipesWhat the same cold morning is doing to the building the car is parked beside.Virginia first snowWhen the mornings that raise this question usually start, measured against the years behind it.

Virginia read September 23, 2026, off the state’s own published code, and 9VAC5-40-5670 C for the separate idling limit. Every quotation above is reproduced in the source’s own wording and links back to the document it was read from. Legislatures amend these between sessions and a repealed section stays in circulation for years afterwards, so the link beside a quote is what governs on the day. What Virginia wrote is what this page carries: the offence, the clause it turns on, how far the chapter reaches, what the legislature exempted, and the sentence it set.