Legal Question in Traffic Law in New York

Re: illegal traffic stop

The police must have probable cause or

reasonable suspicion to stop a vehicle.

This can be for minor traffic offenses,

including no seat belt or loud muffler

They may also use roadblocks and stop

everyone for no reason

There is no "one mile rule" They could

follow forever

What the officer did was clearly beyond the

scope of his authority. But, because

there was no damage or injury, it is highly

doubtful that any court, state or federal,

would ever do anything to reprimand the

officer, and finding counsel to take a

case that will not pay any damages will

be impossible.

A word of caution. Regardless of whether

the police officer is right or wrong, he

is still "god" on the street. Be polite,

let him/her play their power gains, and

go home free and unharmed. "Yes sir"

"No Sir" and "thank you sir" work just

fine.

Re: illegal traffic stop

The police cannot stop your car without probable

cause to believe that you have committed an

offense. Police departments may however set

up things like sobriety check points where cars

are stopped in an established pattern; such as

stoppoing every car; or every third car, etc.

This ensures that the police are not signally

people out arbitarily for examination.

There is no such thing as a "rule" pertaining

to police tailgating.