When a police car's flashing lights appear in your rear window, you must pull over. State laws governing this event require you to find the first safe spot to remove your vehicle from traffic and wait for the officer to approach your vehicle. Any attempt to evade the police, or simply a failure to stop within a reasonable time, can bring charges that, in all probability, are more serious than the one you were initially pulled over for.
Traffic laws vary by state. Failure to pull over for an officer can be a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances. The penalties for failure to stop may include fines, license suspension, jail time or seizure of your vehicle. Obstruction of a police officer in the performance of his duties is a misdemeanor in many states, and in general, legislators and law enforcement want to avoid vehicle chase scenarios, which can put the lives of innocent bystanders and uninvolved motorists at risk.
In North Carolina, for example, the "Run and You're Done" bill allows sheriffs in the state to seize the vehicle of anyone attempting to elude a police officer, when two or more aggravating factors also present. The law's aggravating factors include driving at 15 miles per hour or more over the speed limit, a blood alcohol level over .14 percent, reckless driving, negligent driving leading to an accident, driving with a revoked license, speeding in a school or work zone, passing a stopped school bus, or driving with a child under the age of 12.
The Texas statutes penalize anyone who attempt to flee or elude a police officer when given a visible or audible signal to stop. The signal can be an emergency light, a hand signal, a siren or a voice command; the officer must be wearing a uniform and displaying a badge, and using an official and marked vehicle. Texas classifies this particular infraction as a class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $2,000 or a maximum jail term of 180 days, or both. The law bumps it to a class A misdemeanor with a penalty of up to a $4,000 fine, a year in jail, or both, if the evasion puts another individual in imminent danger.
The California Penal Code makes any attempt to resist, obstruct or delay a police officer in the performance of his duties a crime. If no other crime or aggravating factor is involved, the penalty is a maximum $1,000 fine and one year in county jail. Alabama's statutory language is similar to that of Texas; state law prohibits fleeing or eluding a police officer and penalizes this misdemeanor with a term of at least one month in jail, and a minimum $100 fine. Any violations committed either before or during the evasion -- speeding, reckless driving, failure to signal -- brings additional infractions, tickets, fines and possible jail time.
