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> 5. put your hands at 10 and 2, ON THE WHEEL

I stick both hand out of the window with fingers spread out. I have had odd reactions, and most officers actually think I am an officer myself or I have family that is LEO (I am not and I don't, but I have practiced as a criminal defense lawyer, which I don't acknowledge either). Probably the oddest reaction was one officer saying I must really not want to get shot while laughing at me.

Reaching outside my car window sort of sounds like a really bad idea. That's what someone would do when holding a gun trying to aim backwards at the cop.

>That's what someone would do when holding a gun trying to aim backwards at the cop.

I note my fingers are spread out (show all 10 digits), I wouldn't recommend doing it with anything in your hand: cell phones, wallet or even ID. Anyway ask a cop about it...it has always been acknowledged and appreciated in my experience.

This is different from the advice we got during traffic school from an off-duty CHP officer.

His suggested steps:

  1. Turn on the inside cabin light (the overhead light).

  2. Pull over.

  3. Turn off your engine, but leave the key turned to Accessories so you can
     roll down the windows later.
     (But wait until commanded to do so.)

  4. Put your hands on the top of the steering wheel.

  5. Refrain from:

    a. Rolling down any windows.

    b. Reaching for the glove compartment.

    c. Reaching for your wallet.

    d. Opening the car door.

  6. Await further instructions from the officer, follow lawful orders.

While we're at it, why not just get out of the car, take off all our clothes, and just lie face down on the pavement, butt naked, arms and legs spread wide??

This reminds me of stories of slavery, and how slaves were supposed to act around white folks.

I personally would not roll the windows all the way down, just low enough to hand them ID and to hear and be heard clearly, and I would make sure the doors are locked. The Sandra Bland footage taught me this. https://youtu.be/jpSEemvwOn4?t=2m14s

if you do that, they'll tell you to roll the windows all the way down.

> tell

point a gun and tell?

edit: sorry, i am being un-necessarily rude to you

yes, they probably will.

Lots of lawyers say not to do this, which to me says they don't have the legal right to tell you to do so.

lol, okay. you should try that.

Additionally, in my experience if you have an older car without keyless ignition, taking the keys out of the ignition and putting them on the dashboard will help as well.

Number 5 is one of the most important things!

6. Can be difficult especially at night when they're shining the spotlight in specifically to blind you.

Also don't forget to ask permission before reaching anywhere.

He says that he rolled down his window, and the cop approached from the passenger side and demanded he roll down the rear passenger side window.

note that i indicated plural. windows. that's the thing he missed. they want to have a clear non-glass-obstructed view into the vehicle from both sides, especially at night.

and they will always approach on the passenger side if there's a lot of traffic.

'the protocol' is tricky. even i forget things sometimes, and need to be told by the cop. but i usually get enough of it right that they don't yell at me. it's hard when you're new at this and the adrenaline is pumping when you see the blue and red lights. he probably left his engine running too. not good.

somewhat un-intuitively, if you nail it perfectly (meaning you've clearly learned this through many pullovers), they tend to be more lenient. this is my own personal experience from being pulled over multiple times per year for 17 years of driving.

Imagine if he had crank windows & had to reach across the seat to roll it down the passenger side...woulda been shot for sure ;P

It makes me sick that we have to do those kinds of things to make them feel safe. They're the ones who took the job willingly.

Anecdote: I was recently pulled over on a rural Arkansas road for speeding (at the front of a pack of cars one of whom was riding my ass on a 2 lane road, but I digress). I followed most of the "protocol", but I didn't roll all my windows down. The officer approached, and when I told him that I needed to reach into the glovebox for the rental information, he said "you're fine" in a dismissive way.

It immediately struck me that I had no way of knowing whether he meant that he was a cop that won't over-react to reaching into the glovebox without the disclaimer, or that I was white.

So do you have motorised windows on all your cars or do you get into the passenger seat to roll it down? I can't reach my passenger window from the driver seat and I always assumed it would be better not to be moving around a ton while the officer approaches...

well, chances are if you're driving a car that old, the cop is going to be on high alert anyway, and will know to approach from the driver's side, or tell you what to do from the loudspeaker.

i didn't make the world an unfair place, but that's how it goes.

this is my own personal experience from being pulled over multiple times per year for 17 years of driving

Wow. That's a lot. I've been driving for over 40 years and have been pulled over about a half dozen times total.

Part of it must be that you're not white, and part of it must be the sports cars. But maybe you're driving around in the "'hood" a lot? Policing is probably much more aggressive in certain parts of town.