When third-year College student Stacy Dudley was pulled over by the police in Franklin County at 1:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve, she was terrified.
"I had no idea why he pulled me over," Dudley said. Luckily, it was just because she didn't have her lights on, and the policeman let her go.
But when drivers see flashing blue and white lights in their rearview mirrors, many may panic and think; "What does he want? What am I doing wrong? Can I get in trouble for the empty beer bottle on my floor?"
One of the most important things to know when dealing with a police officer is what your rights are and what can get you in trouble, especially when it comes to drugs and alcohol.
What can the police pull me over for?
Besides the obvious, like breaking the speed limit or having a broken taillight, simply driving poorly can cause a police officer to pull over a motorist.
"They can't pull people over arbitrarily," but the level of suspicion they need is low, Charlottesville attorney Ford Childress said. "There must be an articulate, reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot."
Even if the police officer is a narcotics officer who doesn't know how to write traffic infractions, he can use a missed stop sign as an excuse to pull someone over and look for drugs, he added.
University police officer Marc Belew said any noticeable lack of motor skills like swerving, delayed stops at red lights or wide turns can prompt an officer to pull over a car.
Can my Grateful Dead sticker give the police a reason to pull me over?
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a person may not be pulled over for appearance alone, Childress said. That includes race, what the driver is wearing, how long his hair is or what kind of bumper stickers he has. But police can follow your car and wait for you to commit a traffic infraction if they are suspicious about the way you look, he said.
How many drinks can I have before driving?
The amount of drinks varies among people of different weights and tolerance levels. For drivers in Virginia under 21, a blood alcohol level above .02 while driving is illegal. For those 21 or over, anything over .08 is illegal. The numbers vary from state to state, but on average, a 160-pound man can drink four drinks before he reaches the illegal drinking limit.
If a police officer asks a driver whether he has been drinking, he doesn't have to say anything that is self-incriminating.
According to the Hampton attorneys J.B. Thomas and Associates Web site, "A polite 'I would like to speak with an attorney before I answer any questions' is a good reply."
Do I have to take the breathalizer test?
The breathalizer test, a handheld device police use to determine blood alcohol content, is voluntary unless you are driving. According to Belew, when you sign up for a Virginia driver's license, you automatically give your consent for a breathalizer test. But if you are a passenger, you can refuse to have your breath checked.
If a Virginia driver refuses to blow into the little tube, the Commonwealth automatically revokes his license for 12 months.
"We're getting more refusals now," Childress said, because of a new Virginia law.
The law now stipulates that if a driver's blood alcohol content is above .20, he automatically must spend five days in jail. Many people would rather have their license taken away than spend almost a week in jail, he said.
However, drivers are not legally required to take the field sobriety tests, which include alphabet recitation and standing on one leg. According to the J.B. Thomas and Associates Web site, the officer is usually planning to make an arrest anyway when he asks a driver to perform one of these tests.
I'm the designated driver for my two intoxicated friends. One is 19, and one is 22. What happens if I get pulled over?
As long as you don't let the passengers drink in the car, you should be fine.
"The driver is responsible for all the open containers in the car," Richmond attorney Dave Worrell said. Even if the 22-year-old is drinking a beer as a passenger in his own car, the driver gets in trouble for it, Worrell said.
The 19-year-old can be charged with possession of alcohol if he is drunk, but he can refuse to take a breathalizer test or any field sobriety test such as walking a white line.
Can the police search my car?
This is complicated. "There are whole volumes written on the subject of search and seizure," said Lester Wilson, director of the University's Student Legal Services.
"You can refuse the police permission to search the car, unless they have reasonable cause to believe a crime is being committed," Worrell said.
For instance, if a police officer shines her flashlight into the back seat and sees a bag of marijuana, she would have reasonable cause to search the car, he said.
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects Americans from unreasonable searches, but "many citizens don't know they can refuse searches," Childress said.
Many times, the police officer will ask if the driver has any contraband, like illegal weapons or drugs. If a driver says no, the police officer sometimes will ask to search the car anyway, and "people are afraid to say no," Childress said.
Many drivers have filed court cases in which they claim police intimidated them into allowing their vehicles to be searched, he said.
Motorists always can refuse a vehicle search if they were only pulled over for a traffic infraction like speeding or running a red light, no matter how suspicious they appear, Childress said.
Can the police search me after being pulled over?
Pulling vehicles over "are the scariest times for police officers," Childress said. So police generally have the right to pat down all passengers over their clothes to check for weapons, Childress said.
If they happen to find a container of drugs when they're patting a person down, they may arrest him, he said. Many drug possession cases are fought on the possible illegality of these searches, he added.
Be informed
These are just a few of the many laws and regulations that apply to getting pulled over. But like Wilson said, there are huge books devoted to the subject of what police officers can do and when they can do them.
Knowing the law and your rights can help lessen the panic of hearing the dreaded words, "license and registration, please."
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