Walk It Through: The Stop on the Turnpike
Blue lights after dark, a license and insurance card asked for, the card on a phone, and a question about the trunk.
Blue lights and a siren come on behind a car on the turnpike after dark. The trooper is in uniform.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
A speeding stop that ends in a warning on the turnpike. An OUI investigation, a dog sniff on its own suspicion, and a search on probable cause are on their own pages.
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.
- Reasonable and articulable suspicionThe suspicion an officer needs that a violation has taken or is taking place before stopping a motor vehicle.
- SummonsA written order to appear in court an officer may hand out instead of making an arrest, on the Uniform Summons and Complaint, which the person signs as a promise to appear.
- Traffic infractionA traffic violation that is not a crime. The penalty is a fine of $25 to $500 unless another section says otherwise, a license suspension, or both.
- Bodily injuryPhysical pain, physical illness or any impairment of physical condition.
- Serious bodily injuryInjury that creates a substantial risk of death, or causes serious permanent disfigurement, loss or substantial impairment of a bodily member or organ, or extended convalescence.