Quote:
Originally Posted by Musashi
From what I understand it is well within your rights to refuse to identify yourself unless you are being arrested (may vary by state). That said, you aren't going to make any friends that way.
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That gets into a really gray area then. There used to be a good dashboard camera show called
Real Stories of the Highway Patrol. It was good because that one guy from Portland had nothing to do with it. Anyway, a common practice there was to pull someone over. In Utah, anything hanging from the rear view mirror is cause enough because it obstructs your view. Now that they have you pulled over, they ask if they can search your car. If you say "no" which is your right, they can use it as probable cause to call out the drug dog, often saying something about how long it will take to get it out to you before they can let you on your way. Many people cae at this point ans give consent to search. Legally, it's allowed, but I don't think it's right. On the other hand, I've been pulled over a couple of times and they've never asked to search the car. A big part of it is how you act from the moment you stop your car.
That said, from what I saw of the different officers on that show, Utah has about the most laid back highway patrol in the nation. A lot of the ones from back east seemed to be goading people into a confrontation.