What to Do When You Are Pulled Over by the
Police
From the Nolo Rights & Disputes Center
1. When You See the Police Car
If a police car is following you with its
siren blaring or emergency lights flashing, pull over to the
right safely and quickly. Pull over in a way that will be most
likely to calm down an angry or annoyed traffic officer. Use
your turn signal to indicate any lane changes from left to
right, and slow down fairly quickly, but not so quickly that the
officer will have to brake to avoid hitting you. Pull over as
far to the right as possible so that, when the officer comes up
to your widow, he won't have to worry about being clipped by
vehicles in the right lane.
By stopping as soon as you can, you'll have a
better chance of figuring out exactly where the officer says you
committed a violation. You may want to return to that area later
to make sure the officer was telling the truth about how he
judged your speed, saw your turn, or witnessed any other
violation.
2. Right After You Stop
After you've pulled over to a safe spot, you
might want to show the officer a few other token courtesies. At
this point, you have little to lose and perhaps something to
gain.
First off, roll down your window all the way.
You may also want to turn off the engine, place your hands on
the steering wheel, and, if it's dark, turn on your interior
light. This will tend to allay any fears the officer may have.
(After all, police officers are killed every day in such
"ordinary" traffic-stop situations, and the officer's approach
to the vehicle is the potentially most dangerous.)
Don't start rummaging through your back pocket
for your wallet and license, or in your glove compartment for
your registration, until the officer asks you for them. For all
he knows, you could be reaching for a gun.
If
you are at all concerned that the person who stopped you is not
actually a police officer (for example, if the car that pulled
you over is unmarked), you should ask to see the officer's photo
identification along with his badge. If you still have doubts,
you can ask that the officer to call a supervisor to the scene
or you can request that you be allowed to follow the officer to
a police station.
3. Avoid Giving the Officer an Excuse to
Search
A police officer is normally not allowed to
search your vehicle. However, there are several exceptions to
this. An officer who observes you trying to either hide
something under the seat or throw something out the window may
legally search your car. Once the cop is on your rear bumper
with his spotlight silhouetting your every move, he's watching
for any sort of furtive movement. A sudden lowering of one or
both shoulders will tip him off that you're attempting to hide
something under the seat.
If the officer has a reasonable suspicion you
are armed and dangerous, she can frisk (pat down) you.
Similarly, if the officer reasonably suspects that you are
involved in criminal activity she can also perform a pat down.
And if the police officer has probable cause -- a reasonable
basis or justification to believe that you or your passengers
are involved in criminal activity -- they can search your car
and objects belonging to passengers.
Even if the
officer doesn't have reasonable suspicion or probable cause,
once you are stopped, a police officer may seize any illegal
objects in your car that are in "plain view." Once they see the
object, such as open beer or wine bottles or drug paraphernalia,
they can open the car door to reach in and get it. After that,
they may come across other objects that are in plain view and
shouldn't be in your car, and they can seize these, too.
Lastly, your car may also be searched if you
or any occupant is arrested. Also, if you're arrested and your
car is towed, the police may make an "inventory search"
afterward, even if they have no reason to suspect there is
anything illegal inside.
4. Should You Get Out of Your Car?
An officer who stops you for an alleged
traffic violation has the right to insist that you and your
passengers get out of your car. You should do so if asked. Also,
getting out of your car may make it easier for you to check road
conditions, the weather, and the place the violation supposedly
occurred.
However, many police officers prefer that you
stay in your car and will tell you to stay there if you start to
get out. If this happens, obviously you should cooperate. If you
get out of the car against the officer's orders, don't be
surprised to see a gun pointing at you. Cops are trained to
expect the worst. When you get out of your car, they may assume
you're about to pull a weapon or attempt to flee.
If an officer has any reason to believe that
you might be dangerous, he has a right to conduct a quick
"pat-down" search of your outer clothing while he is standing
next to you, to make sure you don't have a concealed knife or
gun. If the officer feels any weapon-sized object during the
pat-down search, he can reach in and get it. Also, the officer's
good faith belief that you may be dangerous justifies a search
of the passenger compartment of your car for weapons.
5. Talking to the Officer
Many people stopped by an officer make the
mistake of saying the wrong thing to him and failing to say the
right things. And a case can be won or lost depending on what
you say -- or don't say -- to the officer.
Don't speak first. Especially don't start off
with a defensive or hostile "What's the problem?" or similar
words. Let the officer start talking. He will probably ask to
see your license and vehicle registration. Many people make the
mistake of insisting the officer tell them why he stopped them
before they'll comply. Don't make that mistake. Reply "okay" or
"sure," then hand over the documents.
One of the first things traffic cops learn in
the police academy is to decide, before leaving their vehicle,
whether they're going to give a ticket or just a warning. They
may act as though they still haven't made up their minds and are
going to let you off only if you'll cooperate. Don't fall for
this. The hesitating officer may be trying to appear open-minded
in order to extract admissions out of you, to use them against
you in court if necessary. The strategy is to try to get you to
admit either that you committed a violation or that you were so
careless, inattentive, or negligent that you don't know whether
you did or not.
The officer might start by asking you the sort
of question whose lack of a definite answer would imply guilt,
like, "Do you know why I stopped you?" Or, he might ask, "Do you
know how fast you were going?" Your answers, if any, should be
non-committal and brief, like a simple "No" to the first
question or a very confident, "Yes, I do," to the second. If he
then tells you how fast he thinks you were going or what he
thinks you did, don't argue. Give a noncommittal answer, like,
"I see," or no answer at all. Silence is not an admission of
guilt and cannot be used against you in court.
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Fines, License Suspensions, and Traffic
School
From the Nolo Rights & Disputes Center
Learn when you may face a fine, traffic school,
higher insurance premiums, or even the suspension of your
driver's license.
The consequences of not contesting a ticket,
or fighting a ticket and being found guilty, can be serious. As
you doubtless know, you can face a stiff fine, traffic school,
significantly higher insurance premiums, and possibly even the
suspension of your driver's license.
Fines
A routine ticket for speeding, failure to
yield, or failure to stop at a stop sign will normally cost you
between $75 and $400, depending on your state law and,
sometimes, your driving record. Some states can base the fine,
at least in part, on whether you have other recent violations.
Otherwise, states normally have standard fines for particular
violations based on the type of offense. In speeding cases, the
fine can be based on how much you exceeded the posted speed
limit.
The fine is often written or printed on the
ticket, but if it's not, it's easy to learn the amount by
calling the traffic court.
While paying up may be the easiest route for
you to take, it can have lasting negative consequences to you
since the violation will appear on your driving record, normally
for about three years. The big exception to this rule is if you
pay the fine in conjunction with going to traffic school.
Completion of traffic school normally means the ticket will not
appear on your record.
Insurance Rates
Depending on your state law and your insurance
company's policies, your auto insurance rates will normally not
increase if you receive one ordinary moving violation over three
to five years. But two or more moving violations -- or a moving
violation combined with an at-fault accident -- during the same
time period might result in an increase in your insurance bill.
Unfortunately, because insurance companies follow different
rules when it comes to raising the rates of policyholders who
pay fines or are found guilty of a traffic violation, it's not
always easy to know whether it makes sense to fight a ticket.
Before you can make an informed choice as to
whether to pay, go to traffic school, or fight it out in traffic
court, it makes sense to find out whether having the ticket on
your record will result in your insurance rates being upped. The
most direct approach is to call your insurance company and ask.
The problem with this approach is that it risks alerting your
insurer that you have been ticketed (something you don't want to
do if you hope to successfully fight it or go to traffic
school). One approach is to call your insurer anonymously and
suggest you are considering switching insurance companies and
want to gather information on a range of key issues, such as
their criteria for good driver discounts and premium increases
when covered drivers get ticketed.
License Suspensions
You won't lose your license for one or usually
even two tickets for a routine moving violation like speeding,
running a stoplight, or stop sign, or many other garden-variety
traffic scrapes. That is, unless you are under 18 years of age,
where you could lose your driving privileges in some states.
But if you have had at least three previous
convictions for moving violations in the past three to five
years, you could lose your license (parking violations don't
count). And if you are charged with drunk, reckless, or
hit-and-run driving, and have several previous convictions for
moving violations, you can be pretty sure your right to continue
to hold your license is in jeopardy.
In most states, license suspensions are
handled on a point system. A license is at risk of being
suspended if a driver gets three or more tickets in a short
period. Check the exact rules with your state's department of
motor vehicles. Obviously, if you face losing your license, your
incentive to fight a ticket goes way up no matter what your
chances of winning.
You are typically entitled to a hearing in
front of a hearing officer before your license can be revoked.
At that hearing it is often a good idea to explain why at least
some of the violations were the result of mistakes by the
ticketing officer, but for some good reason you didn't fight the
ticket. It also helps to explain the specific steps you've taken
to drive more carefully and safely since the violations. Also,
tell the hearing officers if it is essential that you commute to
work or actually drive for your job, particularly if you will
lose your job if you lose your license. Finally, if you drive
15,000 miles a year or more, you should mention this as well.
Argue that since you drive more than average, your chances of
getting tickets or having an accident are also above average.
The Traffic School Option
Almost every state allows a person ticketed
for some types of moving violations to attend a 6-to-8 hour
course in traffic safety in exchange for having the ticket
officially wiped from their record. Often, attending traffic
school is your best choice, even if you think you have a
watertight defense. After all, while a trial is always something
of a gamble, traffic school is 100% reliable in keeping the
violation off your record.
Policies on allowing you to eliminate a ticket
from your record by going to traffic school vary from state to
state. (They can also occasionally vary within a state, where
local courts have some discretion to set their own policies.)
For example, in some states you can attend traffic school once a
year, while in others you must wait 18 to 24 months before you
can eliminate a new ticket with a new trip to traffic school. In
some states, you aren't eligible for traffic school if you're
ticketed for exceeding the speed limit by more than 15 or 20
miles per hour.
Procedures for getting into traffic school
also vary from place to place. Most courts allow you to sign up
through the court clerk, but a few require that you appear
before a judge to make your request. How a traffic school
attendee's ticket is handled is also different in different
areas. For example, in some states, courts dismiss your case
when proof is received that you've completed traffic school. In
other states, courts require you to pay your fine (forfeit bail)
with the understanding that the conviction will not be placed on
your record if you complete traffic school by a prearranged
deadline. Under this system you must pay twice -- once for the
fine and again for the school.
In some states, erasing a ticket through
traffic school may be accomplished while sitting at home. For
example, California is just one of a number of states where
traffic courts authorize Internet-based traffic schools (they
use tests and other devices to be sure you are paying
attention). But be sure to check with the court in your
particular area to make sure that an Internet-based program is
acceptable. Do not pay any money to the traffic school unless
you are sure that the court accepts that particular school's
program.
Jail
In every
state, only those convicted of the more serious traffic
violations -- such as drunk or reckless driving -- face the
possibility of going to jail. State laws do not allow a judge to
impose a jail sentence for speeding or failure to stop at a
signal. Even where laws do give judges the discretionary power
to jail traffic offenders (such as a repeat offender), they very
rarely choose to exercise it.
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