4 ms·

The police can only stop a driver if they believe they have committed a primary traffic offense.

sidewndr46 4mo ago
No? Not even close. If the police "smell weed" they can stop you. If the police believe you have active warrants they can stop you. If the police believe you have committed a criminal act of any kind, they may stop you
- kube-system 4mo ago
  I'm speaking about a traffic stop specifically, I am aware other crimes exist.
  - sidewndr46 4mo ago
    your statement was "The police can only stop a driver". This is completely false. It is based off the belief of the officer, not fact or reality.
    - deleted 4mo ago
      [deleted]
    - kube-system 4mo ago
      > It is based off the belief of the officer, not fact or reality. A belief that they have violated some law. They cannot do it for these reasons, from the article: > Often officers simply wanted photographs. > Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation.
  - deleted 4mo ago
    [deleted]
petcat 4mo ago
That's not true at all. The police can stop a vehicle for any suspicion of unlawful activity. For instance, to question a driver about the street-legal-ness of their homemade banana car. You can, however, refuse questioning and refuse any inspection of the interior of the vehicle and just ask them to cite you for what they pulled you over for.
- kube-system 4mo ago
  They are required to have reasonable suspicion that the banana car is unlawful in some way. (e.g. missing required equipment, etc) Simply wanting to question the driver or get a picture for funsies is not quite enough.
  - wyclif 4mo ago
    IANAL, and would like to believe that what you say is true, but I think in most jurisdictions "reasonable suspicion" that the vehicle was not street legal would float as justification for a stop.
    - kube-system 4mo ago
      There is no "street legal" statute, so it would have to be for something specific like an improperly displayed license plate, that one example in the article alludes to. But other examples in the article like "Often officers simply wanted photographs." would not be a legal reason. Now, in practice, this is a very easy standard to meet, because even if an officer wants to pull someone over arbitrarily, they can simply follow someone until they make a very minor infraction like crossing a line improperly, exceeding the speed limit by 1mph, rolling a stop, or failing to signal... but they still have to do it.
  - roughly 4mo ago
    It’s a goddamn banana car. This guy’s banana car is apparently legal, well constructed, and registered properly, but yes, the presence of a hand made banana car is reasonable suspicion that the car may not be up to snuff, road legal, or safe to operate around others.

No? Not even close. If the police "smell weed" they can stop you. If the police believe you have active warrants they can stop you. If the police believe you have committed a criminal act of any kind, they may stop you

kube-system 4mo ago
I'm speaking about a traffic stop specifically, I am aware other crimes exist.
- sidewndr46 4mo ago
  your statement was "The police can only stop a driver". This is completely false. It is based off the belief of the officer, not fact or reality.
  - deleted 4mo ago
    [deleted]
  - kube-system 4mo ago
    > It is based off the belief of the officer, not fact or reality. A belief that they have violated some law. They cannot do it for these reasons, from the article: > Often officers simply wanted photographs. > Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]

petcat 4mo ago

That's not true at all. The police can stop a vehicle for any suspicion of unlawful activity. For instance, to question a driver about the street-legal-ness of their homemade banana car. You can, however, refuse questioning and refuse any inspection of the interior of the vehicle and just ask them to cite you for what they pulled you over for.

kube-system 4mo ago
They are required to have reasonable suspicion that the banana car is unlawful in some way. (e.g. missing required equipment, etc) Simply wanting to question the driver or get a picture for funsies is not quite enough.
- wyclif 4mo ago
  IANAL, and would like to believe that what you say is true, but I think in most jurisdictions "reasonable suspicion" that the vehicle was not street legal would float as justification for a stop.
  - kube-system 4mo ago
    There is no "street legal" statute, so it would have to be for something specific like an improperly displayed license plate, that one example in the article alludes to. But other examples in the article like "Often officers simply wanted photographs." would not be a legal reason. Now, in practice, this is a very easy standard to meet, because even if an officer wants to pull someone over arbitrarily, they can simply follow someone until they make a very minor infraction like crossing a line improperly, exceeding the speed limit by 1mph, rolling a stop, or failing to signal... but they still have to do it.
- roughly 4mo ago
  It’s a goddamn banana car. This guy’s banana car is apparently legal, well constructed, and registered properly, but yes, the presence of a hand made banana car is reasonable suspicion that the car may not be up to snuff, road legal, or safe to operate around others.