Two new Ann Arbor laws went into effect July 1.
The first law is an anti-idling ordinance, which allows city police to ticket drivers for “unnecessarily idling” in their vehicles, or for idling in no-idling zones.
The aim is to improve air quality by reducing emissions. “Unnecessary idling” is defined for non-commercial vehicles as idling in a no-idling zone while a vehicle is unoccupied, or idling for over five minutes in a no-idling zone while a vehicle is occupied.
The second law requires public spaces and businesses with televisions turned on to also turn on closed captions for the hearing impaired.
Violations of both of these laws will be considered civil infractions, with fines ranging from $50 to $500 for closed caption infractions, and fines of $100 or more for idling.