Nobody likes to look in their rearview mirror and see that there is a police car behind them, even if they aren’t doing anything wrong at the moment. Being followed by the police can leave you feeling like your actions are under the microscope, and one wrong move can lead to a traffic stop. Can police just follow you forever, waiting for you to screw up, or is there a legal limit for how long an officer can follow you in your vehicle?
How Long Can Police Follow Your Car?
We’ve heard people say things like “police can’t follow you for more than a mile” or “If you make three turns and the officer is still behind you, they can no longer pull you over.” We’re not exactly sure where these rumors started, but just know that there is no set number of miles you can travel or turns you can take that will ensure you are immune from being stopped by police.
Instead, the general rule is that police are allowed to follow you for a reasonable distance to observe your driving and determine if a traffic stop needs to be conducted. As you might imagine, a reasonable distance is interpretative and will vary based on the specifics of the situation. If police witness a dangerous driving behavior or have reason to suspect that your vehicle was involved in the commission of a crime, they can follow you for miles until they either believe there is enough reasonable suspicion to conduct a stop or to let you drive away.
If you are traveling on a fairly busy thoroughfare, it’s not uncommon for a police officer to follow you for miles or around multiple turns. It’s much more likely that they are simply headed in the same direction than closely following you to see if you’ll commit a traffic violation. They have much better things to do than to pick a vehicle at random and follow them for miles to see if they can catch them doing something wrong just so that they can pull them over. If there’s a cop behind you, odds are they either already spotted a driving infraction or are simply headed in the same direction. No amount of turns or miles will prevent them from pulling you over.
If you find that there is an officer behind you without their lights on, take a breath and drive like you’re trying to pass your driver’s test. Follow the speed limit, signal all your turns and come to complete stops. Don’t give the officer any reason to pull you over, and odds are they’ll pass you or turn down a different road. It may seem like they are following you forever, but if you just focus on driving safely and within the rules of the road, you should be fine.
If you need help contesting a traffic citation or different criminal issue, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
