By Atty. Michael D. Dautrich
Dautrich & O’Brien Law Offices
There are an ever-increasing number of traffic stops in Pennsylvania, including in Reading and Berks County. Police officers regularly use equipment violations such as items hanging from the rearview mirror, obscured license plates, non-functioning headlights, tail lights, or brake lights and missing sideview mirrors as reasons to stop vehicles. They also use window tint violations as reasons to conduct traffic stops. Bear in mind that simply because the tint was installed by the factory or by a prior owner does not mean it is legal in Pennsylvania, especially on the side windows. If the police cannot see inside the vehicle, rest assured they are stopping it for illegal tint.
Additionally, police regularly use license plate readers mounted on their patrol cars to gather information, which they routinely use as the basis for traffic stops. License plate readers take photos of the characters on license plates and simultaneously run those plates through various computerized databases to see whether the owner has a suspended license, if the vehicle is stolen, whether the vehicle lacks valid insurance, has a suspended license plate, or a suspended registration. Also, the data run through the computer systems from reading a license plate gives the police information about whether the vehicle owner has warrants, is wanted in any other investigations, or whether a vehicle is connected to some kind of criminal activity.
Many traffic citations are issue by the police due to information gathered from reading your vehicle’s license plate. Information from the license plate reader is also used in court by police officers to support traffic violations or traffic stops in cases where criminal charges such as DUI, drug possession, or possession of a firearm without legal authority. The data conveyed to the police officer from the reading of the license plates gives the police officer audible alerts on their computer screen and enables them to react within seconds to follow a vehicle and make a traffic stop.
As noted above traffic stops often lead to arrests for other crimes such as DUI either under the influence of alcohol, medical marijuana, or other controlled substances. Please keep in mind that medical marijuana cards entitle those people to lawfully consume medical marijuana. However, this does not give someone the right to lawfully operate a motor vehicle in Pennsylvania while under the influence of medical marijuana. Many DUI cases result from people with medical marijuana cards operating under the influence of medical marijuana.
Avoiding traffic stops generally requires checking your vehicle equipment for functioning lights, making sure your tint is within acceptable limits, and being aware that if you have a suspended license or your insurance has lapsed, the police in Reading and Berks County routinely use license plate readers to detect these violations. Best practice is to avoid those pitfalls. However, if you are charged with traffic violations or criminal charges resulting from a traffic stop, Michael D. Dautrich at Dautrich & O’Brien Law Offices can help you mount a defense to your charges.
Many traffic offenses have points, possible suspensions due to accumulation of points or jail time with specific violations. Attorney Dautrich is extremely experienced in representing people in traffic cases in Pennsylvania, which includes traffic violations issued to PA drivers, out-of-state drivers, commercial drivers and unlicensed or suspended drivers, and he can help you avoid points, suspensions, fines, potentially disqualifying offenses for commercial drivers, and jail time. Additionally, with respect to data gathered by license plate readers, there may be 4th Amendment privacy issues that protect you from certain intrusions into your privacy without a warrant or probable cause. There are cases in which license plate readers have been challenged under the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution, but these decisions vary from case to case and are fact based. Attorney Dautrich is well versed and qualified to protect you and your rights and make all legal challenges to any traffic violations issued and/or traffic stops generally.
