What Constitutes Probable Cause to Effectuate a Traffic Stop?

 

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Maria Lassen

Maria Lassen has many years experience in the legal field. She was a practicing hair and nail technician for 10 years and has been a freelance writer since 2010. Lassen studied creative writing at Bowling Green State University and holds a certificate in paralegal studies.

By Maria Lassen, eHow Contributor

An officer must have probable cause for a traffic stop.

Police officers cannot pull over a vehicle without having probable cause or witnessing a violation taking place. Probable cause means the officer has reason to believe that a traffic violation has occurred or that a crime has been or is about to be committed. Once the officer has probable cause, he can pull over your vehicle in order to investigate his suspicions further. This could result in a warning or a traffic citation. Depending on what he finds or if he has reason to suspect other wrongdoing, it could lead to probable cause to search, detain, and arrest.

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• Witnessed Violation

1. • Minor traffic violations are always probable cause for an officer to initiate a traffic stop. If you forget to use your turn signal or roll through a traffic stop and an officer is witness to the infraction, she can pull you over. While some offenses may seem trivial, it is still a violation of law, giving the officer all she needs to pull your vehicle over and investigate further.

   Suspicious Vehicle

   • A traffic stop may be initiated if an officer sees a suspicious vehicle. This means an officer must observe certain facts coupled with his experience. For instance, he may observe a vehicle that appears suspicious due to its sitting low to the ground in an area around the border known for suspects smuggling drugs or illegal immigrants. This may give him reason to believe the vehicle is filled with contraband. Thus, enough probable cause would exist for him to conduct a traffic stop.

   Random Plate Check

   • An officer cannot randomly pull you over. However, she can conduct a random plate check. If any information comes back over her radio that would lead her to believe you do not have a valid driver's license, she can pull you over. Another instance would be if the check came back that you were previously convicted of driving under the influence and you were driving home late at night from a bar; this could rise to probable cause for the officer to pull you over.

   Vehicle Description

   • Many times, officers receive calls over their radios giving a description of a vehicle leaving the scene of a crime. Should an officer happen to observe a vehicle that matched the description, he would have probable cause to pull that vehicle over. Usually, the description should match by make, model, year and color, and possibly reflect the number of passengers in the vehicle as well.
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