[Grovenet] Driving Help Needed

[Allen Warren]

Last evening approximately 9:00 PM I was traveling north on Highway 47 with my 16-year old son driving, approaching the intersection at Highway 8.  Approximately 100 yards from the traffic signal the light changed to red.  After stopping for the signal, my son put the drive gear in Park and turned off the car.  It's important to note that when the motor is turned off the computer automatically turns off the lights.

In a panic I asked, "what's wrong?  why did you turn off the car?!".  His reply: "Since we're going to be sitting here for awhile I wanted to save gas so I turned off the car."  As you might expect, I told him to immediately start the car and turn the lights on.

After my heart rate and blood pressure neared their normal levels, I informed my son that for the very short period of time we would be waiting for the traffic signal to turn green, we would actually use a little more fuel and it would be an extra load on the car's system to restart vs. sitting idling.  I also informed my son that not only was it *NOT* safe to sit in a parked car with headlights off in a traffic lane at night but that I believed it to be against Oregon driving laws.

My son was open to the potential of the no-real gas/energy savings answer being true (but still debated, as is normal for him) but argued that turning off the vehicle and sitting there in the dark was *NOT* unsafe as he said it was a well-lit area, and he also argued it wouldn't be a traffic violation.  I argued it was unsafe because even though it was indeed a well-lit area and we were stopped at a red light signal, we were sitting in a car, in a traffic lane, with no lights on at night.  I also informed him that unless the car was disabled and could not safely be moved to the side and off the roadway, deliberately parking a car in a traffic lane was a violation.  He continued to argue his point this morning.

I've looked on the DMV website and can't find actual text validating either of our positions.  Does anyone know if what occurred last evening would be considered a violation under Oregon Motor Vehicle driving laws?

Thanks in advance for your help,
 
Allen Warren


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