Valid reason to be pulled over?

ornery and mean

The officer may have been using an automatic license plate recognition system. That system would have taken your license plate number and matched it against plate of interest in it's database (updated at least once per day). A car registered to someone that has a suspended license would appear on that list!

If that's what happened ... the "hit" from the license plate reader gave the officer reasonable suspicion to pull you over.

Even if the officer "ran your plate" manually ... that will not help you. Since the plate is easily visible to the officer it is not a violation of your rights for him to read the plate and request information concerning it.

Get the suspension taken care of before your court date and hope the judge goes easy on you! The stop was legal.

Isabella

Sure he can pull you over. But if the reason your license was suspended wasn't your fault and was that of the insurance company, get some proof and contest the ticket when you go to court.

davidmi711

Yes, driving on a suspended license is a valid reason to pull you over.

imamidnightlover

Yes, knowing your license was suspended was a valid reason for the stop. Try to get it fixed (re-instated) before you go to court and the judge may go easier on you.

jakflak

Yes, of course that's a valid reason to pull you over.

Copgirl

YES of course it is.

ricky h

Well, to answer your first part of the question, that depends on the state. Your best bet would be to find out from a lawyer, as many of them offer free consultations.
but for the rest of your question view this website...it will tell you everything you need to know
http://criminal.lawyers.com/traffic-violations/Driving-with-a-Revoked-or-Suspended-License.html

LEO53

He ran your license plate through the police computer, which showed the registered owner, you, to have a suspended license. The Supreme Court ruled many years ago that checking the info attached to a license plate is public records, therefore your plate has no expectation of privacy, so to say. As long as the driver's physical description (I can pull up your drivers license photo too) matches that of the registered owners, there need not be a traffic offense to pull you over. Many courts prefer an infraction, but it is not required.

bluefootedpig

no, he was not allowed to pull you over, but because you gave up your 5th amendment right, you basically got yourself into trouble. If you talk to any defense lawyer, they will always tell you that you should NEVER talk to the cops. Their only goal is to give you a ticket or arrest you. Even cops will say that. Yes it makes their job harder, and sometimes makes it more trouble for you, but the reason we have these rights is to protect innocent people.

So while he might not have had a reason to pull you over, he wont get in trouble because he was able to ticket you. Next time make sure that you NEVER talk to the cops unless you have a lawyer and make sure that they are not allowed to search your car without a warrant.

That being said, by law now, you have to identify yourself. I'm not 100% sure, but i believe telling your name works.

You can try to fight it, best thing is to get your license unsuspected if you can, and when you go into court explain to the judge that you had a temporary lapse in insurance, and didn't realize that your liceanse was suspended and then hope they let you off easy.

Mithaniel Marr

It would depend on where you live. Where I live, it was an illegal stop. He could not have known you were driver, even if the vehicle was registered to you, it could be another licensed driver driving it. Also where the hell do you live where they revoke your license for an insurance lapse? They don't do that here.

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