Car Lockout in Spokane, WA

Spokane parking rules and a locked car

Where your car is parked can matter as much as how it is locked. The City of Spokane's snow removal page sets out these rules for its snow season, November 15 to March 15:

• Downtown, from Maple to Division and from I-90 to the Spokane River, on-street parking is prohibited from midnight to 6 a.m. on snowy days, and vehicles can be towed during noticed events.
• Peaceful Valley's residential area is excluded from that downtown ban.
• Residential areas: residents are asked to park on the odd side of the street all season.

If you are locked out of a car parked downtown on a snowy evening, put that first in your request. A car with its keys inside can still be towed once midnight passes during a noticed event. This is general information, not legal advice.

Cold, heat and who is inside

If a child or a pet is locked in the car, call 911 first, in any season. A closed car turns cold in a Spokane winter and can become dangerously hot on a summer afternoon.

On the east side of the state, cold snaps can ice up car doors and their locks. A handle stuck in ice should not be yanked, which can tear the seal or break the handle, and hot water poured on a lock only turns back to ice. If the keys are inside with the engine running, check that a plow berm or drift is not blocking the tailpipe, because exhaust can collect around a car buried in snow. Wait in a warm building if you can.

What to send

• The street and nearest cross street, and whether the car is inside the downtown snow-ban area
• Which side of the street it is on
• Make, model and year
• Whether the keys are visible, whether the engine is running, and whether anyone is inside

Have photo ID ready; the registration is usually in the glove box and can be checked once the door is open. If the key is lost rather than locked in, you need car key replacement instead. See the car lockout page for the service and the Spokane page for local notes.