Probable cause for police to pull over a vehicle?

Question

Police followed me within 30 seconds of leaving parking space in front of a bar at 2:10am. I was pulled oevr within another minute with the officer claiming my reverse lights came on...I was driving straight at about 25mph and if I was in reverse then the tires would have locked up and the cop would have ran into me. Is this probable cause to pull somebody over under suspicion of driving under the influence? I was not driving erraticly, speeding or anything like that.

What crime is it if your reverse lights come on!?! Never heard of a ticket for that..if I had a light out then that would be different. He didn't say I was swerving or crossing the line or anything. How is leaving a bar probable cause to pull you over? Not everybody drinks

** I Wasn't alone, and I wasn't leaving the bar at closing time...this was over an hour after closing...they had been waiting for me after they saw me purchase beer at a convenience store earlier...they thought I might be underage but I am 23. The fact that I was the only car on the road, and pulled over within 1/2 mile of where I was parked, and didn't operate the vehicle in any way that would be consistent with a normal traffic stop - no swerving, no speeding, no slow driving, no lights off, used all turn signals, there were no stopsigns/traffic lights on my route to stop at, car was properly registered, no music on at all, no window tint, no annoying exhaust...nothing that should have gotten me pulled over

Answer 1

Just your act of pulling out of the parking lot of the bar (if he saw you exit the bar) is probable cause. If he thinks he saw your reverse lights come on, he does indeed have probable cause.

Answer 2

A lot of cops are pretty ruthless. There's a couple good ones out there. Like everyone has said, they can make up crap and say it is probable cause even if it never happened. I have a DUI and if I've had more than two pints in an hour, I don't drive. I get a taxi. I'd rather spend twenty bucks on a drive all the way back home plus tip rather than get a second DUI (felony) and have to pay at least $1500 for an okay lawyer plus court costs plus the damn fact that I won't have my license for a frickin year. Sorry if I'm getting off topic here. In my town bars close at 1 am during the week and 2 am on Fri's and Sat's. Even though I don't drive drunk or even buzzed, I leave the bars at least thirty minutes before they close. It's not a guarantee that you won't get pulled over, but there's more cops out around the "bewitching hour," aka when bars close. I have friends that have never gotten a DUI and they drive drunk and think they're invincible. They say that as long as they keep the wheel straight and put the car in cruise control, don't make wide turns, etc., they won't get pulled over. If for some stupid reason you have to drive home intoxicated, it's better to be paranoid about the cops than not because you'll take more precautions depending on how wasted you are. Sorry if I didn't answer your question but I like telling people about my experience cuz it stays w/ you. I was told after I got my DUI in counseling that something like 72% of all first DUI'ers get their second one w/in five years. It will be five years this coming August. Wish me luck. Hope you didn't get in trouble with that cop.

Answer 3

First, does your state law require that you be 21 to buy alcohol? Was the driver of the car 21 or older. If not, you are lucky you did not get nailed for contributing. If the car is registered to someone who isn't 21, the officer may have ran a computer check and found that out. The fact that he waited about a mile to pull you over gives me to believe he was waiting for you to open up and imbibe What are you doing buying alcohol under age any way??? The are physiological reasons the legal age is 21. Any younger than that and the body cannot process alcohol effectively, increasing the risk of alcohol poisoning. As far as the cop lying, unfortunately, the previous left-wing Supreme Court ruled that it is OK for police to lie to suspects. Unfortunately, some have taken it to the point of lying about suspect. Getting out of the ticket??? Not much chance. Take it as a wake up call and stay sober.

Answer 4

They make up whatever they want. And will pull folks over for anything they think may turn into a probable cause. They then cover themselves if they are wrong.

They likely thought you were drunk (to their thinking only drunks would be out then) and wanted to bust you.

Answer 5

Of course the individual traffic laws very in each state, but I am sure your state has some law about Break lights that they seldom if ever enforce. Police cannot sit outside a know drinking establishment and pull cars over as they leave (this is called a pretuxtual stop) even if they then site you for a valid traffic infraction. If you were charged with D.W.I. or D.U.I under these facts alone, you need to make sure you have a good D.W.I. defense attorney and I would not leave my permanent record up to some overworked, underpaid public defender (although some of the best attorneys I know are PD's, they are so overwhelmed with cases that unless you force them to trial their goal is to plea as many cases as they can to reduce their load so that when they do go to trial they can give the case their full attention.

Find yourself a good atty, who is is well known and respeccted and has a good record for aquittlal or reduction of charge in this area, they will know the appropriate motions to file IE: motion to supress an illegal stop and all evidence obtained after the stop.

Do not try to do this alone, the facts as presented here sound very favorable to your case being thrown out before trial, but without an experienced atty, you might as well have your yard man help you, ask around, word of mouth is far better than fanc advertisment, remember this GOOD ATTORNEYS WHO HAVE PLENTY OF BUSINESS DO NOT NEED TO TAKE OUT FULL PAGE ADS, IN FACT THEY SELDON ADVERTISE AT ALL B/C THEIR RECORD AND GOOD NAME SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. DO NOT BE FOOLED INTO HIRING AN ATTY, SIMPY B/C HE HAS THE BEST OR BIGGEST ADS, (USUALLY THE ATTORNEYS WHO NEED CLIENTS THE MOSY)

GOOD LUCK, don't worry about cost, you get what you pay for and this charge stays with you forever, hinders your ability to get jobs, insurance etc. it is worth the extra money for a skilled attorney

The biggest mistake i see good law abiding citizens amke when it comes to being charged with driving under the influence, iis that they try to save a buck and go with a less expensive atty. they suffer for a long time. there are things and times in yoru life to cut corners (buy a copy of a vera wang dress, or fake diamond studs, but whn dealing with a conviction that will haunt you forever pay for the best.

Answer 6

Sadly the police can use just about any dumb excuse to pull you over and call it probably cause.

Answer 7

They just wanted to pull you over. Seeing you leave a bar just after closing, they probably assumed you were drunk.

Answer 8

Hmmm... well, you were leaving the bar at closing time, alone (you probably would not be your own designated driver) I would say that is probably cause. I bet a judge would too.

Answer 9

this is not pc to pull you over. technically they need to see an infraction occur for them to pull you over and leaving a bar is not reasonable suspicion enough. Are you sure he said your reverse lights and not your brake lights being out, cause if so then it would get thrown out

Answer 10

You looked like someone they were looking for. ANYTHING they can think of is probable cause. ANYTHING!