Virginia law has thousands of traffic rules and regulations. Perhaps only the most experienced police officers know them all. But you, as a Virginia driver, should be especially aware of one – “§46.2-1054 - Suspension of objects or alteration of vehicle so as to obstruct driver's view.” In short, this statute keeps your view of the highway clear. In truth, this statute gives police officers an easy reason to pull you over. You can read the full text of the statute here.
A recent client had come into several serious charges as a result of a traffic stop. Why was she stopped? A graduation tassel hanging from her rearview mirror. A four inch long piece of frayed string. Yet that stop led to a ticket for the tassel and then to several other, more serious charges.
So as I drove to her court date, west on Interstate 66, I pondered creative ways to defend my client. I was stuck on why the policeman stopped her. From my fifteen years of driving, I knew drivers like to ornament their rearview mirrors. Air fresheners, ornaments, lanyards, dreamcatchers, bobbleheads, I’ve seen them all. As a teenager I hung a whistle from my mirror. Dashboard ornaments, window tinting, fuzzy dice; these things are Americana, part of this country’s great love affair with cars. We buy them, we use them, we decorate them as we would our homes.
But all of these objects, from novelty football helmets to oversize parking passes, block a driver’s view of the highway. For that reason, they are prohibited under §46.2-1054. But, if everyone’s doing it, I should see police stopping a great number of drivers for this reason. So, because I do not, why did the officer choose to stop my client?
In that mindset, I decided to take a count. Of the vehicles I would pass and the many-more-vehicles that would pass me (I’m a slow driver), I would count the number of prohibited objects attached to the rearview mirror.
In 10 minutes, I drove roughly nine miles and observed 43 cars. Window tinting on three of those vehicles prevented me from seeing inside (those vehicles have their own potential legal problems). But of the remaining forty, seventeen had objects dangling in a prohibited manner from the rearview mirrors.
This finding supported my legal hypothesis, namely that no one observes this statute. I began to think that this may hypothesis could be a convincing common sense argument for my client. But since I had only one finding, I decided to test it again. From my parking space to the courthouse, a distance of one quarter mile, I would again count the number of cars sporting prohibited rearview ornaments. Rather than scan the parking lot, I would only look at the cars on the rows I walked through. Then I might have two findings to use in my negotiations with the prosecutor.
My observations supported my hypothesis. At the end of my walk, I counted twenty three cars, the last bearing a mighty forest of multicolored pine tree air fresheners suspended in midair. Really, I don’t know how anyone driving that car could see the highway through all that foliage. Or stay conscious amidst all those air-freshening chemicals, for that matter.
I walked into the courthouse convinced that I had a good faith argument for selective enforcement. Selective enforcement is a tough argument to make in the case of a single instance; however, my observations might appeal to the common sense of the prosecutor or the judge. To me it was simple: my client shouldn’t have been pulled over for a violation that I’d seen gone unpunished at least forty times that morning.
Happily for my client, but somewhat sadly for me, I never had the chance to employ my argument, as the prosecutor and I reached another result. However, if you or a loved one likes to affix items to the rearview mirror, consider the following.
- If you hang an object from your rearview mirror, and an officer thinks it may obstruct your vision, he may pull you over.
The officer needs no other reason.
- Once he pulls you over, he can investigate to determine whether the object really does obstruct your view.
- If he determines that it poses an obstruction and decides to write a citation, he can ask for your license and registration.
- He may also observe your appearance and demeanor, as well as the interior of your vehicle.