# "Do you know why I stopped you, sir?" and other questions about police procedures **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-why-i-stopped-you-sir-and-other-questions-about-police-procedures/481036 "2009-01-13T04:06:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-why-i-stopped-you-sir-and-other-questions-about-police-procedures/481036/61 "2009-01-16T08:21:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That is what we should have but don’t. I know New York does since when I look up a New York plate the info is on there. All we have is a piece of paper. It can be easily forged. The owner could have applied for insurance, received a card, and they stopped paying. On the other hand a validly insured vehicle may have to be towed because the driver forgot to put a the new card in the vehicle. Some insurance companies (like Geico) are open 24 hours and will confirm insurance over the phone. Many will not or can not. The officer is under no obligation to call, the law is that the driver has to show proof. When I can, I try to call. But it is not always practical or possible. The law here is that an officer _must_ tow the vehicle. If the officer believes that the driver does have insurance and lets them go they must get proof of insurance within 24 hours or the officer has to track down the vehicle and tow it. Of course that is not very practical so the car is always towed at the time of the stop. round here you must show proof of insurance at time of registration, for the FULL duration of the registration period…so if a car has a registration it is by default insured. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-why-i-stopped-you-sir-and-other-questions-about-police-procedures/481036/62 "2009-01-16T08:42:04Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > round here you must show proof of insurance at time of registration, for the FULL duration of the registration period…so if a car has a registration it is by default insured. We have to show registration when the car is initially registered. Renewals are done by mail. Proof of insurance must be shown during vehicle inspection, but that isn’t every year. And there is nothing to stop someone from getting insurance, receiving a card which is good for a year or 6 months depending on the policy, and then not paying after the first month. There is no law forcing anyone to pay for the full year up front. Due to the very high cost of insurance here it would not be possible for most to put out that kind of money. I certainly couldn’t afford it. ---
**Author:** ![SeanArenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-why-i-stopped-you-sir-and-other-questions-about-police-procedures/481036/63 "2009-01-16T18:51:58Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I’m going to also chime in that being a girl helps alot. Remember that scene in Cannonball Run when the girl gets pulled over, starts unzipping her top to offer some cleavage to the cop, and it turns out to be a female cop? Hehe… ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-why-i-stopped-you-sir-and-other-questions-about-police-procedures/481036/64 "2009-01-16T19:18:23Z")
Loach, in Indiana you have to show proof of insurance when you register your car, but you don’t have to carry the proof with you in your car. If I were driving my car in NJ and got pulled over for some minor infraction, would my car be towed? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-why-i-stopped-you-sir-and-other-questions-about-police-procedures/481036/65 "2009-01-17T04:48:36Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I’ve been pulled over for traffic violations in Arizona, California and Oregon and they’ve all asked for “License, registration and proof of insurance.” I’m going to also chime in that being a girl helps alot. Heheh. The very first ticket I ever wrote back in the days when I was a deputy sheriff was to a stunning beautiful young lady who I got for doing 90 in a 55 zone. She tried to run a game on me about how her period had just started and she was trying to find an open service station with a restroom where she could put in a Tampax. When I told her that wasn’t an emergency and started to write her up, she got huffy and said, “You coldhearted little bastard - the last four cops I told that to let me off!” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-why-i-stopped-you-sir-and-other-questions-about-police-procedures/481036/66 "2009-01-17T16:19:04Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#): > > Loach, in Indiana you have to show proof of insurance when you register your car, but you don’t have to carry the proof with you in your car. If I were driving my car in NJ and got pulled over for some minor infraction, would my car be towed? No. I don’t have my books with me so I can’t give you the actual verbage but we can not enforce NJ laws about registration and insurance on out of state vehicles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-why-i-stopped-you-sir-and-other-questions-about-police-procedures/481036.md?page=3)