Legal Question in Traffic Law in Washington

Re: legal stopping requirements for police

When a police officer pulls you over, he has, in a legal sense, siezed you. To do this, he must have legal justification, which means he must have reasonable suspicion that a crime either has been or is being committed. If you failed to signal a turn, or if your brake lights don't work you can be pulled over (along with many other reasons). But he cannot pull you over

just to see what he will find. So, if there was no reason for the officer to pull you over, then, yes you can have the ticket dismissed for lack of probable cause or what some call a "bad stop."

But, you probably have a better option, in many WA jurisdictions the prosecutor has a standard (and in my opinion ... common sense) rule that if you can prove you had insurance AT THE TIME OF THE STOP the ticket will be dismissed. So, if, as you say, you have a letter stating that you had insurance in effect at the time of the stop, you have no reason to get into a fight

over whether there was probable cause for the stop ... the ticket will be dismissed because you had the insurance.

Good luck. If I can be of any additional assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Todd Richardson