subject: Being Stopped By Uk Traffic Cops [print this page] In the UK when the police tell you to stop your car, you have to comply. They do not need a reason to stop you, failing to stop is a criminal offence. The police can ask you to produce your driving licence, insurance documents and vehicle registration documents. If you are not carrying those documents, you have 7 days to produce them, by taking them to your local police station.
The police can issue you with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN). FPNs are for minor traffic offences such as not wearing a seatbelt or having a broken light. You have 28 days to pay the FPN, failure to pay or appeal within 28 days results in a prosecution. If you pay within the allowed time, no record of the offence is kept.
Occasionally if you have something minor wrong with your car, the officer will decide not to fine you. However, they will issue a Vehicle Defect Rectification Notice. If you receive one of those notices, you have to get the defect fixed by a mechanic. Once the fault is fixed, you have to take proof of this fact to your local police station.
UK police can breathalyse you if they suspect that you have been drinking and driving. The officer does not have to explain to you why they feel that you have been drinking. Two breath samples are taken, and the lower reading is used for prosecution if you are found to be over the limit. Should you fail the test you have to go immediately to the police station and will be prosecuted. It is an offence not to give a breath test when asked to do so.
The police have the power to seize your vehicle if it is being used in an anti-social manner for example driven around an estate with the radio blaring. Vehicles can also be confiscated when the driver does not have the appropriate insurance or driver's license.
If you are stopped by the police, it is important to do exactly as asked and to be polite. If you do not comply with the police officer's requests, you run the risk of being arrested.
