Routine Traffic Stop?

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Occasionally law enforcement will spot a suspicious vehicle and pursue it in the interest of public safety but sometimes drivers react without any regard to safety. Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Russell Pasqualetti talked about what constitutes a routine traffic stop and how motorists should react. 

“So there are times when we will follow the person for a considerable distance just til we get to a point where we can pull them over,” Pasqualetti said. “Now when we light people up you know, we turn on our lights and we’re behind them. There are times when they will continue driving, that’s fine if you’re slowing down and giving an indication that you’re pulling over and you want to get to a specific area, that’s fine but generally when we’re lit up, we’re already at an area that we can get over, both get over safely and just pull over and stop. And once you pull over and stop, just make sure you’re getting over as far as you can.”

Every traffic stop, officers request three documents that should be easily presentable: a driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. Some insurance companies are paperless and offer their proof of insurance through an app on your cell phone. But all three documents are mandatory.

“Always pull to the right,” Pasqualetti said. “There are times when we light people and they pull into the median to the left. You shouldn’t be doing that, you should always go to the right. And we also have people that occasionally slam on the brakes and stop in the lane of traffic. That’s also very dangerous and you shouldn’t be doing that. So again if we do sight you up, we’ll be in a decent area, just gently pull over to the right berm and stop. We’ll pull in behind you and then we’ll just come up and make contact with you.”

Pasqualetti said each traffic stop is unique and that officers are concerned with safety. He noted that sometimes motorists have to dig through their glove box or cellphones to find documentation and that a little, polite communication is greatly appreciated.