A family living in Winnipeg’s St. Vital area is confused and angry with the city after their car was ticketed earlier this week.

Charlene Mash-Hadlow said one of the family’s cars was ticketed for having it plugged into their home. The cord was strung from the front of their home across the lawn and to their car, which was parked on the road nearby.

The cord was deemed an obstruction and safety concern by the city employee – something Mash-Hadlow disputed.

“There is no obstruction at all,” she said. “It's the cord just running from our electrical outlet right to our vehicle, so no safety concern, I don't think."

The city bylaw states that no one can run an electric cable across a street because of safety reasons.

What angers and confuses the Mash-Hadlows is the fact that there is no sidewalk in front of their property.

Councillor Brian Mayes said he remains unsure as to why the ticket was issued.

“As you can see, there is no sidewalk here, so I'm not really sure what the issue is, so we'll follow up and check back at city hall,” said Mayes. “I'm not sure what the motivation was but [we] haven't had any other complaints about this property at all.”

In Saskatchewan, some municipalities have softened their legislation around electric cords near city property. They have asked ticketing staff to consider car cord issues on a case-by-case basis and to be considerate of instances like the Mash-Hadlows that are at least within a grey area of the bylaws.

The family has lived in its St. Vital home for 18 years and said they've never even been warned about breaking a city bylaw for plugging in their car.