Ahab talks about a program in California to stop drivers and give them Starbucks gift cards to reward them for good driving. I think a very interesting legal question centers around whether this practice is actually even legal.
I won’t pretend to be an expert in this field, but I’m fairly certain that the police can’t seize a driver for any old reason. They have to have a reasonable suspicion that the occupants of the vehicle were engaged in some kind of criminal activity. Even if it’s not strictly illegal, it’s definitely an abuse of authority.
From what I understand, the police have to have probable cause to pull you over (tail light out, swerving, failure to stop etc…) so now they are making it probable cause to obey the traffic laws…sounds kinda fishy to me…I’m going to go and put on my tin foil hat now, excuse me.
Oh, and once they have you pulled over, if there is anything in plain sight, you are busted, so it may be an actual revenue machine. They pull you over for obeying the laws, pull you over, and then see that you aren’t wearing your seatbelt, boom they give you a $5 gift certificate, and you pay them $25 for a no seatbelt ticket…
As Nate said, this will definitely be used as a means to bust people for whatever they can once they’re pulled over. Now if they want to pull me over and give me $100 cash I’ll gladly do it. I’ll crack the window, the cop can slide the bill in and off I go. I’ll never even have to speak or look at him.
Just recalled a political cartoon of some years ago:
The KGB (NKVD?) has pulled over a car and is confronting the driver – “Why are your papers in order?”