Walk It Through: The Stop on the Highway
Lights behind on the Seward Highway, a license and an insurance card on a phone, and a question about the trunk.
Red and blue lights come on behind a car on a two lane highway. The shoulder is narrow and a pullout is a little way ahead.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
A highway stop for a moving violation that ends in a warning. A DUI investigation, a stop where a weapon is in the car, and a search on probable cause are walked through elsewhere.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- CitationA written notice to appear an officer may give instead of taking someone to a judge, with a court date at least two working days out for a misdemeanor and five for an infraction or violation.
- InfractionAn offense under the motor vehicle title that is not a crime, cannot bring jail, and carries no right to a jury or a court appointed lawyer.
- Class A misdemeanorThe more serious misdemeanor class, with up to one year in jail and a fine up to $25,000.