General Questions About a Traffic Stop

[brucelafleur]

I am in the great state of Maryland. I have never been in trouble for anything but I am curious about various aspects of routine traffic stops. If the police ask to search your car, should you ever allow them? Is it lawful to lie to the police? If you have had a drink and the officer asks if you have been drinking, what if anything, should you say? In what circumstances may an officer require you to get out of the vehicle? To you have to roll your window down any further than that required to pass documents back a forth? I hope these don’t sound like stupid questions. It just seems like, unless you just remain silent, you may be giving up some of your rights. True or not?

[justalayman]

I am in the great state of Maryland.

sorry to hear

I have never been in trouble for anything

Good. Give yourself a pat on the back.

If the police ask to search your car, should you ever allow them?

the pat answer is not. Some will tell you why not unless you have something to hide. it is your right to refuse unless the police have legal justification to allw them.

Is it lawful to lie to the police?

NO. It can get you into mre trouble than whatever charge you are trying to avoid.

If you have had a drink and the officer asks if you have been drinking, what if anything, should you say?

you should answer him unless you want to claim your 5th amendment rights. If he has real reason to believe you had, he is then going to perfgorm field sobriety tests to find out the truth.

In what circumstances may an officer require you to get out of the vehicle?

when he wants you to. You do not have a legal right to stay in the car.

To you have to roll your window down any further than that required to pass documents back a forth?

No but do understand that suspicious behavior generally brings ion more investigation on the officers part.

I hope these don’t sound like stupid questions. It just seems like, unless you just remain silent, you may be giving up some of your rights. True or not?

No, they are not dumb questions. Every driver should know what they are actually required to do. There is a good video put out by the ACLU that does a good job of their recommendations for a citizen police interaction. I can't find the video right now but here is a pdf file that explains things.

[url]http://action.aclu.org/site/DocServer/know_your_rights.pdf?docID=161[/url]

here are a few other pages.

[url]http://www.flexyourrights.org/frequently_asked_questions[/url]

[url]http://www.flexyourrights.org/traffic_stop_scenario[/url]