Yes, police can pull you over for hanging an air freshener in your car

CNN ^ | Tue April 13, 2021, 6:25 AM ET | Faith Karimi

[ConservativeMind]

Excellent graphic!

[Governor Dinwiddie]

In the balance, the world is a better place to live without Duante. Vaya con Dios, Duante.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

In the balance, the world is a better place to live without Duante. Vaya con Dios, Duante.

[1Old Pro]

But Minnesota is one of at least several states with laws that prohibit hanging items from a vehicle's rearview mirror or affixing them to the windshield on the grounds that they could obstruct the driver's vision.

So blame MN legislators and the Governor.

[zeugma]

they have a duty to intercede

Actually, they have no such 'duty'. You cannot sue a cop for failing to protect you. The courts have consistently ruled that for years.

[zeugma]

That’s a great flowchart. Thanks!

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

Perhaps not a legal duty, but if you were to ask a cop if they would do all they could to stop a crime that they are witnessing, they would probably all say they would.

[zeugma]

I've never even gotten a warning - just short friendly conversations "Oh, that? I wasn't aware of that, thanks I'll take care of that right away." or some such.

I got pulled over several months ago for not having my lights on. My driving lights were on, but not headlights. The way from where I was coming was pretty well lit, so I didn't notice. I'd had my car serviced the previous day, and hadn't noticed that they'd turned my lights from 'automatic' to 'off'. I'd gotten so into the habit (a bad one admittedly) of not even worrying about the headlights because they come on automatically that I hadn't noticed.

I was quite embarrassed, and the cop laughed at me when I told him what had happened, then let me go.

[ThunderSleeps]

Yikes, thanks for the heads up. I just recently traded up to a new car - my first with “automatic” headlights. I just set it on auto on like day 2 of ownership and never considered checking it. But you’re right, if a family member borrows it... Might not be in the configuration I expect. I better make that part of my routine checks if/when someone else drives the car.

[zeugma]

Perhaps not a legal duty, but if you were to ask a cop if they would do all they could to stop a crime that they are witnessing, they would probably all say they would.

Well, of course. The point I was making was that they actually have no legal duty to engage. They may very well have a moral one, but the law is not cognizant of such things.