When You Must Identify
G.L. c. 90, § 25 — a driver's name and address, the license and registration, on a police officer's request
A driver's duty. A person operating or in charge of a motor vehicle who refuses, when requested by a police officer, to give a name and address, or the name and address of the owner, or who gives a false name or address, commits an offense.
- Stopping when signalled by an officer in uniform or displaying a badge conspicuously.
- Producing the license and the certificate of registration on demand.
- Letting the officer take the license or certificate in hand to examine it.
- Signing a name in the officer's presence, on demand.
Those are the other duties the section lists; refusing or neglecting any of them carries the same penalty.
The penalty. The penalty is a fine of one hundred dollars.
Surrender. A person who, on demand of an authorized officer and without a reasonable excuse, fails to deliver a license, a certificate of registration, or number plates commits the same offense.
The section is written for people operating or in charge of a motor vehicle; a passenger or a person on foot is not addressed in it and is not on this page. A particular stop is a question for the court that hears it, or a licensed Massachusetts attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- G.L. c. 90, § 25 — Refusal to submit to police officer
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Massachusetts attorney.