Traffic Stops
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-489 and Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-3,167 — the license on demand, proof of insurance, and ten days to produce it
At a stop, the sections this page reads say, in short:
- The operator's license is carried at all times while driving, and presented for examination on an officer's demand.
- An officer demanding a license first displays proper evidence of lawful authority.
- Evidence of insurance may be shown as an electronic image on a phone, without consenting to a look at anything else on it.
- An owner who cannot produce proof of insurance has ten days to show the prosecutor it was in force, and the citation is then dismissed.
The Fourth Amendment sets limits on every stop, and the Supreme Court of the United States has drawn several of them. It has held that a stop is reasonable where the officer has probable cause to believe a traffic violation occurred, whatever the officer's actual motive; that an officer making a lawful stop may order the driver, and the passengers, out of the vehicle; that a passenger is seized by the stop and may challenge it; and that a stop may last no longer than its purpose requires, so it may not be extended for a dog sniff without separate reasonable suspicion. It has also held that consent to a search has to be voluntary, judged on all the circumstances, and that the prosecution does not have to prove the person knew they could refuse. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Searches, frisks and arrests at a stop rest mostly on the cases rather than the statutes. Whether a particular stop was lawful is a question for a licensed Nebraska attorney.
Sources for this section (9)
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-489 — Operator's license; duty to carry and exhibit; exception; officers; power to demand presentation
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-387.01 — Evidence of insurance; display as electronic image
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-3,167 — Financial responsibility; owner; requirements; prohibited acts; violation; penalty; dismissal of citation; when
- Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996) — A traffic stop is reasonable when there is probable cause of a traffic violation
- Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106 (1977) — An officer may order the driver out of a lawfully stopped car
- Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. 408 (1997) — An officer may order passengers out of a lawfully stopped car
- Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249 (2007) — A passenger is seized by a traffic stop and may challenge it
- Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. 348 (2015) — A stop may not be extended beyond its purpose to run a dog sniff
- Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973) — Consent to a search must be voluntary
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Nebraska attorney.