When THEY Follow, But Don't Pull Over

Verified Credentials

Reggie & Njeri London
Co-Founding Partners

Texas Bar verified. Reggie London (Texas Bar No. 24043514) and Njeri London (Texas Bar No. 24043266) are the co-founding partners of L and L Law Group, PLLC — based at 5899 Preston Rd, Suite 101 in Frisco, Texas (Collin County), with many 5-star Google reviews, and available 24/7 for criminal defense consultations.

What Is Actually Happening Behind You

An officer who tails a car for several blocks without activating lights is almost always doing one of three things. The most common is watching for a traffic violation. Under Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a stop is lawful if the officer observed any traffic violation, no matter what the officer was really interested in. A rolling stop, a lane change without a signal, a license-plate light that is out, or a tire touching the line is enough. The officer's real reason for following you does not matter in court if the objective violation was there.

The second possibility is that the officer is running your plate, which can return an expired registration, a suspended license on the registered owner, an insurance flag, or a warrant. The third is that the officer has already decided to stop you and is waiting for backup or a safer, better-lit stretch of road. None of these require anything from you. Your job during those blocks is simply to give the officer nothing.

How to Drive While You Are Being Followed

Drive like a driving test is in progress, because in a real sense it is. Concretely:

• Hold your speed at or just under the posted limit. Do not slow to a crawl, which looks like impairment or evasion, and do not speed up.
• Signal every turn and every lane change, at least a few seconds before you move.
• Come to a complete stop at every stop sign and red light. Wait a full second before you go.
• Stay in your lane. Do not drift, straddle, or hug the shoulder.
• Keep both hands on the wheel. Do not pick up your phone, even at a light.
• Do not reach under the seat, into the glove box, or into the back seat. Movement inside the car is exactly what an officer watches for and later describes as "furtive."
• Do not throw anything out of the window. Whatever it is, it is now evidence, and tossing it creates a separate problem.

Do not "test" the officer with a sudden turn to see whether the car follows, and do not take an unusual route to shake them. Both invite a stop and both get written into the report. Drive the route you would normally drive.

Do Not Pull Over on Your Own

Some people, when they realize they are being followed, pull to the curb to "get it over with." Do not do that. If you stop on your own, you have volunteered for an encounter the officer may not yet have had a legal basis to start. Under Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (1991), the Supreme Court explained that the test for a seizure is whether a reasonable person would feel free to leave or to decline the officer's requests. A car that stops voluntarily and a driver who starts talking through the window look, on paper, like a consensual encounter, which gives you fewer protections than a stop because the officer needed no suspicion to begin it.

If you are close to home, you do not have to drive past your street. But if you have any doubt, it is fine to continue a few more blocks to a lit, public place such as a gas station before you stop, if and when you are signaled. That is safer for you, and it is easier to see and be seen.

You Are Not Stopped Until They Signal You to Stop

Legally, nothing has happened yet while a patrol car is simply behind you. A traffic stop begins when the officer signals you to pull over with emergency lights, a siren, a hand signal, or a spoken command. In Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984), the Supreme Court treated the moment the officer activates the lights and the driver pulls over as the start of the seizure. Before that moment, the officer has not restrained you and does not need any justification to drive behind you on a public road.

This matters later. If the officer never observed a violation before the lights came on, your lawyer can challenge the stop and, under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 38.23, ask the court to exclude any evidence that came from it. If you pulled over on your own, that argument is much harder. So keep driving normally until you see the signal, and note, as best you can, where you were and what you were doing when the lights came on.

Once the Lights Come On, You Must Stop

The moment you see emergency lights or hear a siren directed at you, stop. This is not a judgment call. Two Texas laws make failing to stop a separate crime, and either one is worse than whatever the original stop was about.

Texas Transportation Code § 545.421 makes it an offense to willfully fail or refuse to stop, or to flee, after a uniformed officer in a marked police vehicle gives you a visual or audible signal to stop. The basic offense is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000. Texas Penal Code § 38.04, evading arrest or detention, applies when you intentionally flee from an officer you know is trying to lawfully detain or arrest you. When a vehicle is used, § 38.04 is a felony.

You do not have to stop in an unsafe spot. Turn on your signal or hazard lights immediately so the officer knows you have seen them, slow down, and pull into the first safe place on the right: a shoulder, a side street, or a nearby parking lot. Do not drive a mile to your driveway. If you go a little farther than the shoulder, keep your speed low and your signal on so your intent is obvious.

How to Handle the Stop When It Comes

Once you are stopped, put the car in park, turn off the engine, roll the window down, and, at night, turn on the interior light. Put both hands on top of the steering wheel and keep them there. Do not start digging for your license and insurance before the officer asks; a hand moving toward a console or glove box is what officers are trained to react to. When asked, say where the documents are, then reach for them slowly.

Texas law requires you to show your driver's license and proof of insurance on request. Beyond that, you are not required to explain where you were coming from, where you are going, or whether you have had anything to drink. Under Salinas v. Texas, 570 U.S. 178 (2013), staying silent is not by itself enough to invoke your rights, so say it out loud. Use short, complete sentences:

• "Officer, here is my license and insurance."
• "I am going to remain silent."
• "I do not consent to any searches."
• "Am I free to leave?"

Say them politely and then stop talking. Do not argue about why you were stopped, and do not ask why the officer was following you. That conversation happens later, with your lawyer, using the officer's own dash-camera footage.

If the officer asks to search the car, say no. Under Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973), consent must be voluntary, and a clear "I do not consent" is the only way to preserve the question of whether the officer had a lawful basis to search without it. The officer may order you out of the car under Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106 (1977), and may order passengers out under Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. 408 (1997). Comply, keep your hands visible, and keep saying the same sentences.

Finally, the stop has a time limit. Under Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. 348 (2015), a traffic stop cannot be extended beyond the time needed to handle the traffic matter unless the officer has developed reasonable suspicion of something else. An officer who stops you for a minor infraction and then holds you while waiting for a drug dog or asking about your travel plans is on thin ice. You cannot argue that at the roadside, but you can ask "Am I free to leave?" and remember the answer.

What to Write Down Afterward

Whether or not you were cited, write down what happened as soon as you are somewhere safe: the time, the streets you drove, how long the patrol car followed you, where the lights came on, the reason the officer gave for the stop, every question asked, and the exact words you used. Note whether the officer was in uniform and the vehicle was marked. Save any dash-camera or phone footage. Agencies in Frisco, Collin County, Denton County, and Dallas keep their own body-camera and in-car video, and your lawyer can request it, but your notes are what tell the lawyer which minutes of that video matter.

About the Authors

Njeri London

Co-Founding Partner

Texas Bar No. 24043266. Admitted: TXND, TXED, 5th Circuit. Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Focus: Fourth Amendment motion practice, drug-crime defense, federal cases. Verify on Texas Bar

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Reggie London

Co-Founding Partner

Texas Bar No. 24043514. Former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney. Extensive felony trial experience including DWI dockets. Verify on Texas Bar

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