13 Traffic Stop Tips

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13 Traffic Stop Tips

IF YOU ARE STOPPED BY THE POLICE

1. Remain calm.

2. Be respectful, not confrontational.

3. Stay in the car. Sit patiently, and wait for the officer to approach your vehicle. If it is dark outside, turn on the interior light.

4. Produce your driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance when the officer asks you to do so. Don’t start rummaging around for these items until the officer asks for them. The officer will be watching you and may wonder whether you are, in fact, searching for weapon. Caution: If you have a gun (or other weapon) in the glove compartment, do not open the glove compartment for any reason, even if you are licensed to carry the weapon. Keep your hands on the steering wheel and tell the officer about the gun. Ask the officer if he would like to retrieve it.

5. Answer “identification” questions. Otherwise, try to say as little as possible. If the officer asks, “Do you know why I stopped you?” A simple “No,” is all you need to say.

6. If you are asked to get out the car, do so. Close the door behind you. Keep your hands in plain sight. Once you are outside the vehicle, the officer may pat you down for weapons if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that you might be armed or pose a danger to him.

7. Do not consent to a search. If you are asked to consent to a search – of your purse/backpack, your pockets, the interior of the car, the trunk – say NO. If the officer is asking for permission to search, that means he has no other legal justification to search you. You have a 4th Amendment right to refuse his request. Exercise that right. Say, “No. I do not consent to a search.” Any passengers in the car should do the same.

8. If the officer writes you a ticket (a traffic citation), sign it. Don’t fight the ticket there on the street.

13 Traffic Stop Tips continued below.