Car Lockout in Idaho Falls, ID

A child or pet inside comes first

If a child, a pet or anyone who cannot open a door is locked in the car, call 911 now. A closed car can turn dangerous in winter cold as well as summer sun, so do not wait for a locksmith.

Snow-season rules that can put a clock on a lockout

From November 14 through March 15, Title 9, Chapter 5 of the Idaho Falls City Code adds parking limits. Under Section 9-5-4, some apply all season:

• Arterial and collector streets posted "No Parking Any Time" are closed to parking at every hour.
• From 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., parking is barred on the stretches of 19th Street, Milligan Road, Pier View Drive, River Parkway and Rollandet Avenue that the code names.
• Downtown, reaching north to G Street for this chapter, parking is barred from midnight to 8 a.m.: north-south streets on even-numbered days, east-west streets on odd-numbered days.

Others begin with a snow event, meaning more than two inches on the roadway as posted by the city:

• Zone A, bounded by Holmes Avenue, 17th Street, Pancheri Drive, the Snake River, Elva Street, the railroad and 1st Street, follows the even and odd day split from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Zone B, the rest of the city, bars parking from midnight on the snow event day.

Under Section 9-5-6, police may have a car in violation towed and stored without notice to the owner. If your car sits where one of these limits applies, say so and give the start time. Section 9-4-7 also makes it an infraction to leave a vehicle without stopping the engine, locking the ignition and removing the key, so say if the engine is running.

This is general information, not legal advice.

What to send

1. The street, nearest cross street and side of the street. Downtown, name the block; in a lot, the entrance and row.
2. Your snow zone if you know it, and any posted restriction on the block.
3. Year, make, model and color, and whether the engine is still running.
4. Where the keys are: in the ignition, in the trunk, or lost.

If the keys are gone rather than inside the car, see car key replacement. For the service, see car lockout; for city rules, Idaho Falls.