[Closed] If the Police stop you in a car...

Why?

I doubt it, crims have kids too.

Unless they're arresting you for something, I don't see why you can't stay put. Kids or no kids.

Doubt you could actually refuse, if the bobby actually 'required' you to get out. The Bobby would have a duty of care over the kids though, so would be unlikely to do anything irresponsible. Sounds like a situation easily resolve by all parties being reasonable and well mannered... 😯

Just treat the Police like they do us victims of crime.

Wind down your window, say "Sorry, this is in my view a civil matter!" and just drive off.

Unless they're arresting you for something, I don't see why you can't stay put. Kids or no kids.

Would you be happy if the copper stayed in his/her car too ? Presumably he/she could shout through their open car window and conduct the proceedings in that manner.

Getting out of your car when stopped by the old bill is common courtesy/good manners ffs, as is saying please, thank you, etc. If you struggle to conduct yourself in a civilised manner with the old bill then don't except too much sympathy in return. As long as you understand that, then go for it - but don't then start whingeing if you come unstuck.

they're only parked behind you

If pulled on a Motorway and on the hard shoulder, if asked to get in their car and leave your kids alone in car?

Kids aged 13 months and 4

Were there any swans about?

If you left a child in a car unsupervised to pop into the shops or get some petrol, then you could be prosecuted. Just saying, that's all.

stavro - you sure about that? Sounds and smells like BS to me. Perhaps if it was a very hot summer day and you left the kids in a locked car with all the windows rolled up whilst you did the weekly shop at Asda...

I'd happily leave kids in the car when paying for fuel (if I had any) and see parents doing this every day.

I've been arrested when my kids were with me -at home not from a car- (they were 4&8 at the time). Police just asked me if there was an address they could be taken to whilst I went to the station and they took them there.

If you left a child in a car unsupervised to pop into the shops or get some petrol, then you could be prosecuted. Just saying, that's all.

That's not true.
Also sometimes it is safer to leave them in the car, like paying for petrol. Much safer than dragging 3 kids across a smelly forecourt.

If you left a child in a car unsupervised to pop into the shops or get some petrol

I hope that's not true cos I do it all the time 😯

As restless says, why remove the kids from a steel box with impact protection, airbags, child seats and seatbelts to make them walk in front of cars?

Much safer left in the car in my view.

As in the example of the motorway above i wouldnt leave my son in the car. I think thats a perfectly reasonable attitude especially if it was simply a matter of speeding and would doubt the police would be as offended as ernie is.

Really not seeing the issue here. As you're a responsible parent you'll have them belted in and the child locks on anyway.

If I was pulled on a motorway I'd stop where I think its safer for us. I've seen people pulled and sat in appalling spots for both the officer/driver. Sod the bollocking.

If you are pulled tho your obviously doing something wrong. Can I ask why you would with two children under your supposed protection lawbreaker? 😉

anagallis_arvensis - Member

As in the example of the motorway above i wouldnt leave my son in the car.

Because of course it's much safer to have children wandering on the hard shoulder. At least they won't get stolen.

As for me being "offended", isn't it fun to take things completely out of context ? And conveniently ignoring the fact that I was referring to the issue of refusing to get out of the car - [i]"kids or no kids"[/i]

Which is why i wouldnt leave my son alone in the car. Even at 15 months he could open the catch on the car seat. Not that i've been pulled over in the last 15 years i should add for the puritanical amongst us.

I wouldn't be doing anything that would make a copper want to pull me over.
simples.

I wouldn't be doing anything that would make a copper want to pull me over.
simples.

could be for a brake light that stopped working that you hadn't noticed?

I always check my lights are working on the motorbike before I leave the house, it's common courtesy to others and could save their lives and yours.

could be for a brake light that stopped working that you hadn't noticed?

I'm holier than you. If I was to be pulled over it would be a Traffic Officer asking for driving tips.

If I was pulled on a motorway I'd stop where I think its safer for us. I've seen people pulled and sat in appalling spots for both the officer/driver. Sod the bollocking.

Which you're allowed to do, if you've seen people stopped in a dangerous spot it's because that's where the person choose to stop.

You could stay in the car and when they come over explain why you didn't get out, they don't really expect everyone to get out.

You don't have to get out of your car - kids or no kids - if you've been stopped for a traffic offence.

They'll come to you first though and usually ask you to go to their car, you don't have to

You may take the decision it'd probably help to do so though

IMO always get out of the car before they ask you and the correct answer is always " yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir"

This way you get off with things you shouldn't.

I really don't see what the issue is with leaving the kids in the car for a minute or two

" yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir"

That's far too much deference for my liking

Mind you, I can't remember the last time I was stopped, 20, 30 yrs ago, something like that and then it was only because he wanted a look at my motorbike

I've been 'buzzed' before but then I'd just passed his observation spot at c90. He came up close behind, then alongside, then infront then shot off.

I am perfectly happy to grovel in pursuit of not getting a booking.

I have got away with some fairly outrageous behaviour as a result.

"Won't someone please think of the children."

That's if you can find them wrapped up in all that cotton wool.

A Policeman hasn't the got the power to "make" you do anything. Even if he's pointing a gun at you and shouting "get on the floor" you don't have to do it, however in reality it might be a good idea to obey!

I really don't see what the issue is with leaving the kids in the car for a minute or two

Because kids are inquisitive and playful. At four years of age they can also very easily click a seat belt climb into the front and open a door. There's no way on earth I'd leave them alone at the side of motorway with cars and hgv's whizzing past at 70mph.
Yes it might be unlikely but I tend not to gamble with my children's lives. Do you?

Agrees with TJ...Then wanders off for some bleach and the hardest brush he can find....

I don't see what the fuss is all about, kids in car, doors locked, petrol paid for. At most it's going to be 5 minutes if there's a queue.
when I were a lad.... 🙄

I've been stopped 3 times by the police, twice as a youngster on a scooter for 'filtering' a bit quickly in Brum city entre and once in my car for going through an amber/red light at 3am on a deserted (apart from the bloody unmarked police car behind me!) road.
Each time I've behaved in a shamelessly grovelly brown-nosed fashion and each time I've had a 'ticking off' instead of nything else.
I'd rather be bit subservient and maybe get away with doing something 'wrong' than be a pillock and get done for it.

I have got away with some fairly outrageous behaviour as a result.

Agreed! Got pinged doing over 140k on a 100k road in one of the most remote parts of Tasmania. Being polite got me away with an informal caution, and a compliment on my car, when it could have been an instant ban for three months. I really thought it wasn't going to go well when I got out and he said he'd had trouble catching me though...

Just put your kids in a backpack

Just get the police to handcuff the kids to the door handles, then the can't come to any harm 😈

From knowing coppers, and from watching the coppers thing on C4, my experience is that the last thing that they want to do is arrest someone, because it's frankly a bit of a pain in the arse.

Let's be honest, if you're ever pulled over by the police, or spoken to by the police on a night out say, you normally know what you've done to warrant it.

A simple acceptance of "yes officer, I was being a bit of a dick wasn't I" will often get a "yes you were [insert slight lecture here] now sod off and don't do it again" response.

Obviously, if you're stopped for drink-driving, or they're on a targetted speeding campaign or something, you're getting booked no matter what. But still, you did do something wrong, and being an uppity cock is making no-ones day any easier.

Not in normal policing but re the o.p a lot is going to depend why you are stopped. In my particular field if you are stopped you are almost always getting out of the car, quickly, if required by force and regardless of who else is in the vehicle (they may be getting extracted as well). This is because in virtualy all situations I deal / dealt with you're getting arrested for serious stuff, I don't want you to escape and a vehicle can easily be used as a weapon with catostrophic consequences for us, you and the public. Also we put the stop in in the safest place possible. Obviously if it's a more mundane trafic stop the officer is going to carry out a similar risk assessment in his mind so if he perceives little risk from you being in the vehicle and can carry out his duties with you in the vehicle he may be happy for you to stay in the car or stand by it where you can see your sprogs. Obviously he is not going to want you're children to be involved in some horrific motorway carnage either

Regarding police power to get you to do something, hopefully the poster was being flippant but the police do have the power to make you do certain things;

Where any provision of this Act—
(a)confers a power on a constable; and .
(b)does not provide that the power may only be exercised with the consent of some person, other than a police officer, .
the officer may use reasonable force, if necessary, in the exercise of the power.
(PACE s117)

I think this is more a question of attitude than child safety. If you have the correct attitude when dealing with the police or any other member of society, then usually things will work out better for all parties.
Example 1)
You shout at your SO "Where's my effin Dinner?", you'll probably end up wearing it. If you whisper in their ear "What are we having tonight?", you'll probably get some dinner and maybe some special attention later.
Example 2)
You you are driving along in your bubble and some one in authority asks you to step out of it you have two options. Get defensive/aggressive because of your "concern" for your kids when the real reason is that you resent the intrusion into your territory. Or hop out, have a polite chat and maybe get a ticking off.
The choice is yours.

Stay in the car? Or get out of it?

Nice to have a choice.

In the good old US of A if you made the move to get out of the car the very least you'd expect is being shouted at while the Cop will have his gun ready to be pulled out !!

I used to get stopped by the Cops loads when I was a teenager, in a car full of girls, driving around town. I think they were just bored. The drill then was to open the window, keep hands on the wheel and be very very polite, but not too giggly. But that was NZ.

The one time a friend of mine did try to step out of the car she managed to trip on the seatbelt and landed face first on the road. That was the end of anybody keeping their cool, inluding the officers. She got hauled down the Cop Shop and tested for everything, failed most of it.

Sorry not that relevant, just funny story !

You shout at your SO "Where's my effin Dinner?", you'll probably end up wearing it. If you whisper in their ear "What are we having tonight?", you'll probably get some dinner and maybe some special attention later.

Quite the new man 🙂

My friend got stopped in her late teens driving her little Mk1 Fiat Panda. She got out of the car and was all nervous and flustered, professed that she was really sorry for whatever she's done and promised she'd not been drinking or anything and would happily blow into 'that thing', pointing at the item the officer was holding, to prove it.

"You can if you like love", said the officer (it was in the North, where you can say that sport of thing without everyone thinking it's a chavanistic assualt on the rights of women), "but that's my radio"

[i]In the good old US of A if you made the move to get out of the car the very least you'd expect is being shouted at while the Cop will have his gun ready to be pulled out !! [/i]

I went on a driving holiday to the States with a couple of mates. We got lost trying to find a motel, saw a couple of police cars stopped with the officers stood beside them chatting.

We stopped and all got out the hire car to ask directions.

It was a bit disconcerting the way they all separated and put their hands near their holsters.

The did relax as soon as we spoke, though.

I think this is more a question of attitude than child safety. If you have the correct attitude when dealing with the police or any other member of society, then usually things will work out better for all parties.
Example 1)
You shout at your SO "Where's my effin Dinner?", you'll probably end up wearing it. If you whisper in their ear "What are we having tonight?", you'll probably get some dinner and maybe some special attention later.
Example 2)
You you are driving along in your bubble and some one in authority asks you to step out of it you have two options. Get defensive/aggressive because of your "concern" for your kids when the real reason is that you resent the intrusion into your territory. Or hop out, have a polite chat and maybe get a ticking off.
The choice is yours.

or example 3)
polietly explain your safety concerns to the officer without being defensive / aggressive because you have no ulterior motive.

Feel free to provide more examples that labour a one sided & simple view.

[i]polietly explain your safety concerns to the officer
[/i]

I still don't understand what the OP's actual concerns were though?

I really don't see what the issue is with leaving the kids in the car for a minute or two

do you have kids, I alway try to plan not having to visit a petrol station if nipper is with me and I'm on my own. I certainly wouldnt leave him a the side of a motorway.

gravitysucks
Your example 3 works for me too.
My point was that it is all about your attitude.

[i]wouldnt leave him a the side of a motorway[/i]

I'm not sure he was being taken to a police station, just sat in a car behind his?

I still don't understand what the OP's actual concerns were though?

My Daughter once popped her seatbelt, jumped into the front seat and opened the front door when we were parked at a farm because she was excited about getting an icecream (wind took the door and put a dent in the next car 👿 )

I wouldn't like my son to have the same opputunity on the side of a motorway because he's excited and wants to see the police car that daddy's gone to sit in.

When looking after my children I like to remain in control of the situation.

[i]When looking after my children I like to remain in control of the situation. [/i]

so where were you when your daughter was climbing all round the inside of the car?

I've always found the best policy with traffic cops is to admit everything and be brutally honest. "Why were you speeding?", "Sorry, I was in a hurry, I should've known better" etc.. They seem to respect that. Never change your story, and keep answering their repeated questions with the same answers.

As for getting pulled with kids in the car? Never happened to me but I guess I'd ask politely if they wouldn't mind allowing you to stay in your car/within sight so the kids don't freak out.

so where were you when your daughter was climbing all round the inside of the car?

gravitysucks: can you not deadlock your car? Usually double-tap on the remote and then even the front doors can't be opened from the inside.

and what was being done with two young kids int he car that warranted a police stop on the motorway - they usually try and avoid stops on the hard shoulder.

they'll pull a gun on you in the states if you get out of the car before asked to do so....

I remember driving through tahoe with my dad we got pulled, my dad jumped out the car to go and see what was up, to be greeted by screams of 'stay where you are' 'hands on your head' ' SLOWLY'

then the guy proceeded to just scream at him.

gravitysucks: can you not deadlock your car?

I can but it activates the alarm, which the kids then set of because of the internal sensors. Defening noise and tears commence.

and what was being done with two young kids int he car that warranted a police stop on the motorway - they usually try and avoid stops on the hard shoulder.

I don't know i've never been stopped by the police.
The OP was a hypothetical question was it not?

I can but it activates the alarm, which the kids then set of because of the internal sensors.

Yeah that's an issue. 🙂 Check the manual, I think you [i]may[/i] be able to deadlock without the alarm?

Not an issue for me yet. Strap buckle is sufficiently complex to foil our little un (22 months)... so far.

I remember driving through tahoe with my dad we got pulled, my dad jumped out the car to go and see what was up, to be greeted by screams of 'stay where you are' 'hands on your head' ' SLOWLY'

theres a great story from rob warner about being pulled over in shaun plamer's cadillac. palmer jumps out; cop starts screaming; palmer starts shouting "go on then shoot me, trigger happy boy". 😯

I've suffered the police getting upset when I got out of the car. Admittedly I did it rather quickly as it was raining a bit and I got out and jogged back to their car while they were still getting out of theirs. The cop shut his door, opened his window and asked me to go back to my car lol. Baffled I was, but later he explained that I looked a little aggressive. Still, it lightened the mood afterwards!

Standard advice in France is as soon as you stop on the hard shoulder, get all passengers out of the vehicle and over the armco barrier to safety. Never sit in a car on the hard shoulder as at high speed drivers are drawn to obstacles on the hard shoulder. The emergy services thelmselves are often hit despite the huge illuminated signs.

The way in Spain is to accept that you'll never do the right thing as the Guardia Civil will be compelled to tell you to do something simply to justify their existence and authority.

This has never failed.

Pretty sure you're allowed to drive to the next junction/service area if "pulled" on a motorway.

Average time for a collisions including a vehicle on the "hard shoulder" is less than 10 minutes.

Nothing back from the OP, I call troll.

Because kids are inquisitive and playful. At four years of age they can also very easily click a seat belt climb into the front and open a door. There's no way on earth I'd leave them alone at the side of motorway with cars and hgv's whizzing past at 70mph.
Yes it might be unlikely but I tend not to gamble with my children's lives. Do you?

Yes those little rascals can't be trusted for a minute. I do hope you are not trying to supervise them from doing the aforementioned whilst doing the tricky job of driving? 😉

I always used to think those "warning - child on board" signs were for overprotective retard parents ("oh, I was going to run you off the road as I do most other vehicles in my vicinity but I now see by your helpful sign you have a minor in the car I have seen the error of my ways and will make you the exception!") until I went in the car with my sister and her littleun and I realised the sign is meant to warn other other road users that there is an unstable introverted parent at the wheel who my or may not look up from the important business of parenting to check where the hell they are going once in a blue moon!

on M56; Thule bike rack indicators not working but on a newish Discovery so big lights still visible.

Police car parked in front on hard shoulder not behind

Very polite to Police and asked if I was to leave the car with children in would 2nd Officer stay in my car and assume duty of care...

So they put you in danger for a minor problem rather than instructing you to drive in front of them to the next exit. You shouln't be moaning on here, you should be filing a complaint [url= http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx ]here.[/url] or filling in this [url= http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/26038 ]petition[/url] depending on how dangerous you think the situation was.

Lets say it's hypothetical - but in this instance could you refuse to leave the car?

On the contrary, as soon as my car stopped I'd order everyone out of the kerb-side doors and over the crash barrier, and wait for the police there. In England I'd also order all family memebers to put their hands on their heads and do the same myself.

Slightly OT. My dad left me in the car when I was 4 years old. I climbed into the driver seat, put it in neutral and let off the handbrake. We were parked on a slight incline and I crashed through two fences and into a house. Same car (Navy blue, 4 door Hillman Hunter), but I was a year older and wiser. I opened the back door going round a roundabout and fell out. Car was prompty sold and replaced by a yellow, 2 door Datsun Sunny.

Never underestimate what a child will do in a car. Especially an [s]dumb[/s] adventurous one. 😀