Can Law Enforcement do this???

I was driving in Montvale, NJ yesterday around 4 PM. I saw a cop car hiding in the bushes but I wasn't speeding. When I came up to the traffic light, I noticed he was behind me. Right when the light turned green, he flipped the switches and pulled me over. The usual "license, insurance and registration" request followed and then he asked if I knew why I was being pulled over. I responded no and he told me my NJ license was expired. I told him it lapsed because I changed to an Arizona license but I also asked how he knew that. He responded that he pulled the info from my plates.

Does this constitute probable cause to pull someone over? What if it was someone else driving my car???

 

Kenny,

Many police cars in NJ are now equipped with a device that will read your license plate and run it through the database in the MVC computer system. It will show if the car's registration is expired, if the owner's license is valid, if there are any "wants or warrants" outstanding. Because the information on your license plate is public, they can observe it, run it through their computer, and pull you over if something comes up that gives them cause, like a driver's license that is no longer valid. So, yes, the stop was valid.

Now, more importantly, did you move to Arizona? If you did, and changed your license, you need to re-register your car(s) there as well. But for that to be valid, you must live there more than 6 months of the year. If NJ is your state of residence (live here more than half the year, vote here, pay taxes here), you must have an NJ license.

Steve

 

If he can or can't do it isn't important yet.
He DID do it.
You DID get the ticket.
Now you need to know if he had probable cause to stop you *if* you want to persue this in court.
Clearly, it's cheaper & more efficient to pay the fine.
But I don't know if points go on your license for any of this.

I bow to Steve's posting above. He's familiar with the legal realm.

 

Steve:

Thanks for the response. I fall in the category of drivers that live half the year in AZ and half in NJ. The NJ - DMV let me register my cars in NJ despite being a reisdent in AZ. In other words, I vote in AZ and claim residence there.

K.

 

Points would not go on license because it is not a moving violation. Well, that's how it is in NY...

 

Since my AZ license was in order, there was no violation thus no ticket...

 

Does not make much sense. Why would you register a car in NJ if you could do it in AZ where I would hope the insurance and taxes are less.

 

The way I see it at issue is whether he had PC to stop you. If your NJ tag or any facet of NJ road legality is in fact expired - and your license status can be revealed via this tag scan Steve notes - and he ran you as Steve suggested then that's his PC. I would do a little research and see if the LEO's method of determining status is possible; if not, get your act together and fight it.

 

Fight what? He did not get a ticket.

 

Listen guy...I err....um... Just assumed he got paper. However I guess there's nothing to fight then eh