Dallas Woman Leaves Her Car Running. Then a Police Officer Teaches Her Lesson About Texas

Dallas-area TikToker Desarae (@desaraerielle) thought she was doing the responsible thing by immediately reporting her stolen car to police. But she also learned an ironic lesson on her way out: Do not leave your car running.

“You wanna know a fun fact? In Texas, it is illegal to keep your car running unattended. I just learned that from filing a police report, from my stolen-[expletive] car.” Apparently, Desarae had her car running when it was stolen, which in the Dallas area is extremely dicey. The thieves used a key programmer to get into her car, since she says she had the keys on her at the time of the crime.

And what she learned is a real thing: Leaving your car running and unattended is illegal under Texas’s Transportation Code § 545.404, even if you're just warming it up in your own driveway. Of course, there are some exceptions noted in the comments.

Wait, Is It Illegal To Leave Your Car Running in Texas?

“That's only partly true,” said one person. “It applies to public roadways, not private property AND the there's an exception if it's a remote start and the key isn't with the vehicle but it's required for operation.”

So, leaving your car running at your house? Good to go. Leaving it running at the DMV? That’s a potential problem, and maybe a ticket, if a real stickler wants to write one. Violating Texas Transportation Code 545.404 is a Class C misdemeanor with fines up to $500.

The kicker? While Texas law can penalize everyday drivers for this offense, police cruisers, big rigs, and delivery trucks idle unattended across the state every single day. As one person commented, “Weird because the cops definitely do it.”

There are other states with similar codes, laws, or statutes, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Colorado, Wisconsin, and South Carolina. In Illinois and Kansas, the driver must actually stop the engine, lock the ignition, and remove the key if it's not a key fob.

Dallas Auto Thefts: How Bad Has It Been?

As a note of clarification, the police did locate her car, but the thief had stolen almost everything from it, from Bath & Body Works products to baby car seats. However, she still has a concern that it could be stolen again, either by a programmer or by a key fob clone. More than 20,000 cars and trucks are broken into in Dallas each year, roughly 50 vehicles per day. Most of the property stolen is "portable," meaning it is not affixed to the vehicle.

After several years of rising numbers, auto thefts in Dallas have significantly declined. CBS News reported a 23% decrease that continued into June 2025. Despite the overall decrease, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area still had the fifth-highest number of car thefts among major U.S. cities.

Patch reached out to Desarae (@desaraerielle) for more information.

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