When Can the Police Search Your Car at the Roadside? - The Podcast

"SteveLehto" (stevelehto)
08/03/2017 at 08:00 • Filed to: None

Whenever I mention traffic stops or the police, I get a few comments and emails from people who want to edumacate me on the law. “You don’t have to pull over when the cop turns on his lights.” Or, “You don’t have to talk to the officer when he/she approaches your car.” The Constitution you say?

This area is one of the most hotly contested and most misunderstood areas of the law. As I like to say, I am just here to explain to you what the law is and does. I am not saying I agree with it. That said:

Police officers are allowed to pull you over. The threshold for this is quite low. No, your Constitutional right to travel freely does not trump law enforcement stopping you for a traffic violation.

They can also detain you briefly by the side of the road depending on what you did or what they are investigating. No, this is not an arrest. Nor is it a “seizure” as contemplated by the 4th Amendment.

The video of this podcast went up a few hours before I typed THIS sentence and I have already gotten angry comments on all of the above. No, I am not wrong. If you dislike this, your gripe is with the SUPREME COURT. And, you should realize: The Constitution specifically says that the SUPREME COURT is the final arbiter on the interpretation of the laws and said Constitution. So you cannot claim to hide behind the Constitution on the one hand, but disclaim the Supreme Court’s interpretation of it.

The audio:

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This website may supply general information about the law but it is for informational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not meant to constitute legal advice, so the good news is we’re not billing you by the hour for reading this. The bad news is that you shouldn’t act upon any of the information without consulting a qualified professional attorney who will, probably, bill you by the hour.

DISCUSSION (13)

random001 > SteveLehto
08/03/2017 at 08:26

I mean, I guess you don’t technically HAVE to talk to the officer when he pulls you over. You don’t technically have to talk at all, I guess. It may not be the smartest thing to do, though....

random001 > SteveLehto
08/03/2017 at 08:29

So here’s a question I have. I’ve heard, never tested, that if you are being pulled over, you are allowed to drive until you feel you can pull over and be safe. For instance, if you are pulled over on a 2 lane road with minimal shoulder, you can drive until the next parking lot, or if it’s in a dark secluded area you can drive to an occupied or well lit area. Does that sound right? And when does it become resisting if you are trying to maintain safety for yourself and the officer?

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > SteveLehto
08/03/2017 at 08:52

My thing with traffic stops is common sense. They always scream that you should never incriminate yourself and that you have all these things you are allowed to do or not do and so does the officer. But if you know for a fact that you blew through a stop sign, keeping up the charade that you had no idea might only piss the officer off further. Then instead you have a ticket for ignoring a stop sign, instead of rolling through one (that’s a distinction right?). So what I’m saying is, sometimes it might pay off to just own up to what you did, you might get some leniency.

SteveLehto > random001
08/03/2017 at 09:39

Within reason, yes. A police officer will not expect you to stop immediately and throw it into park. But as soon as you can, pull over. I’ve had people argue with me on this, about how if you are a woman, alone, you can refuse to stop because the cop might be fake. Or that if you are out in the country, you can drive into a city.

Those are risking the fleeing and eluding (or some such) charge.

SteveLehto > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
08/03/2017 at 09:41

I’ve talked about that in other podcasts. The topic of this one is what the police are and are not allowed to do during the stop.

random001 > SteveLehto
08/03/2017 at 09:44

Cool, thanks.

Rico > random001
08/03/2017 at 10:41

The proper thing to do in this situation if you are really not planning on stopping (let’s say this two lane road goes for a few miles) you should immediately call 911 and explain that you are being pulled over but are waiting to get to an area that is safe because there is no/minimal shoulder. This information will then be relayed to the car performing the stop (as the cop has long called it in the minute he/she lit you up).

Same goes for people who are scared a cop might be a fake, call 911 and explain and they will be able to verify that the person is a LEO and the stop is legitimate.

random001 > Rico
08/03/2017 at 11:06

This is an excellent response. I thank you, sir!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > random001
08/03/2017 at 14:59

A lot of good advice from others, but I’d include that when doing this, turning on your hazards to acknowledge they are behind you and understand you’re being pulled over would probably go a long way in the scenario. If I ever felt the need to pull over in a “safer” area I would absolutely slap the hazard button right away.

Wil Haginen > SteveLehto
08/03/2017 at 17:00

Mr. Lehto, this is very good advice, but does not apply to me, as I am a sovereign citizen!

Heh, just kidding. I don’t actually believe / buy into that brand of bullshit. Also, “Warrant” would be a terrible name for a dog.

I have a question about “probable cause”.

Setup: I live in Texas and have a vehicle purchased, registered, licensed in Texas, and (as with 99.99% of vehicles in Texas) has a Texas-legal window tint.

Incident: I was on a road trip up in the north east when I was pulled over in New Jersey.

Outcome: New Jersey officer (can’t recall if he was highway patrol, state police, local police, or what) pulled me over, stated I had illegal window tint, and said that gave him probable cause to search my vehicle. I was very young at the time and more or less intimidated by all the hullaballoo, and so I let my vehicle be searched. Nothing came of it, obviously.

My question: Was that a legal search? Was that even a legal reason to pull me over? I had Texas plates and a current and valid registration sticker, and I was not speeding.

Another question, not related to this article in any way: I used to own one of the “evil” VW diesels. I sold it shortly after the whole fiasco started, but I received an email stating I was still entitled to some compensation. I’m directed to this website: https://boschvwsettlement.mdl.online/ But is there a way to find out if it’s a legit claim website or just a way to steal my personal information?

random001 > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
08/03/2017 at 17:51

Nice.

SteveLehto > Wil Haginen
08/04/2017 at 08:21

That site looks legit to me. Call the # and see if a normal person answers.

As for the tint, I haven’t heard that before. The key is if they asked to search or just searched without your permission. A lot of times they’ll throw the excuse at you to see if you’ll say, “Fine, go ahead.”

Wil Haginen > SteveLehto
08/04/2017 at 12:37

This was over 10 years ago now, so the memory of it is a little hazy. I think the conversation went something like this:

Police: This tint is illegal in New Jersey, that allows me to search your vehicle, OK?
Me: OK.

Basically, I think I did give “permission” by way of affirmation, but really I was more or less acknowledging what the officer was saying rather than saying “yeah, go ahead and search my car”. But anyways, I suppose that’s in the past now.

Thanks for these articles and legal tidbits. I appreciate it a lot.