Can police pull your vehicle over for no reason?

Answer 1

a police officer will never admit to not having a reason for following you, but yes, depending on state regulations, a police car can follow you, some states only for so many blocks before deciding to pull you over or leave you alone.

Answer 2

Canada

Yes, pulling over a motor vehicle is never done for NO reason. If they had no reason why would they bother and waste their time. An officer may pull a vehicle over even if it just to ask if the driver has had anything to drink. Reason enough. Checking on the status of the vehicle insurance, plates, driver welfare, passenger welfare, etc are all legitimate reasons. What they find after the stop can make the difference whether you are subject to further investigation or sent on your way. If you are doing nothing wrong then there is little to worry about, they really have much more to do than harass the perfect citizen.

United States

In legal theory, no you cannot be stopped simply because an officer chooses to do so.

However, any small infraction such as not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign is a viable reason for a traffic stop. It is a fairly simple matter for an officer to find a reason to stop a vehicle, but the search of the vehicle and/or subject is a different matter.

Police can't legally stop you on "mere suspicion" alone, they need "probable cause" (such as a broken light, etc. as mentioned above), or have "reasonable suspicion" such as a vehicle matching that description was reported fleeing from the scene of a robbery in the vicinity moments earlier. . . but some do, regardless.

Answer 3

Usually not. There may be specific circumstances or locations (such as federal property) where they may stop on a whim, but it most commonly needs a clearly articulatable reason to stop a car.

Another View: Original answer is open to interpretation. There have been court rulings in several jurisdictions to the effect that, in the interests of compliance and public safety, law enforcement DOES possess the authority to conduct random traffic stops to determine compliance with the state's licensing, registration and vehicle safety laws. HOWEVER - it must be done in an entirely impartial and random manner!

Answer 4

For no reason No...... but if your on a public highway or street they can stop to see if you have a drivers license and if it's valid. Or there is the off chance you only signal 99 feet before a turn. Or say defective license plate light. Or your license plate is dirty. Or they can't read the state name on your license plate. So to sum it up no not for no reason but yes for very little reason.