Expectations for Virginia Traffic Stops

General expectations for Virginia traffic stops include the officer asking a person for their license and registration. At that point, what the person is going to want to do is retrieve those items once they have the officer’s permission. It can be critical that the individual not reach and start grabbing things in their car. To learn more about how to handle your traffic stop, contact a skilled traffic violation attorney right away.

How to Handle Possible Questions an Officer Will Ask

The officer will ask for a person’s license and registration. A person can respond to the officer, letting them know that they would like to exercise their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and provide them with their license and registration. By law, if a person is operating a motor vehicle in the state of Virginia, they have to be licensed and have the license with them. Their vehicle must be probably registered. A person needs to provide those documents to the officer, but any questions they do not have to answer.

Following the Exchange of Information

Normally what the officer will do is take a person’s information and go back to their car. They are going to be doing a warrant check. They are going to check to see if a person has any active warrants. They do this for everyone when they are pulled over. If they do not have active warrants, the officer will come back. Either they will provide them with a ticket that they can sign or they will give them a warning and let them go.

It is okay to acknowledge what a person is charged with so they can have realistic expectations for Virginia traffic stops. If a person wants to ask the officer any questions, they can ask them what the actual charge is to see if it is a speeding ticket or reckless ticket. It is not advised to go too much further than that.

Common Mistakes to Avoid During a Traffic Stop

The first is not pulling over, so always pull over immediately. Drivers should make sure to signal in some way to the officer that they are stopping. Another mistake to avoid is furtive movements. Always keep their hands visible. They want to make sure the officer can see their hands at all time.

The third biggest mistake is exiting a person’s vehicle without being told by the officer and without being arrested. Sometimes people get themselves in a more trouble than they would possibly be in because they talk to themselves into convictions. The person should close their mouth and listen to the officer. If they are relaxed and follow instructions, they will get out of there alive.

If a person is afraid that they are being pulled over by an unmarked vehicle and it is not a real officer, they can ask for the officer’s badge or contact 911 to let them know what is happening. They can verify whether the officer is real or not before they are actually pulled over.