Your Rights in a Vehicle
Getting pulled over by the police while in your car is a common experience for many Canadians. Despite how frequent this experience is, most people aren’t sure about the scope of the powers of the police to stop, question, search or otherwise interact with them during a stop of their car. Be it on the highway or a side street, your Charter rights apply to you and anyone else in your car. However, there are a few things that you should know to ensure that you are able to exercise your rights in the car if you need to.
Firstly, the law recognizes that there are a few issues that the police should legally be able to investigate in almost all driving situations. These issues include: whether or not the driver of the vehicle is licensed to drive; whether or not the motor vehicle is properly insured and registered; and whether or not the vehicle is in good working order. Unlike other situations, the police do not need grounds to believe that your licence, insurance or registration documents are not up to date in order to pull you over to investigate these issues. The rationale for this is that driving is not a right, but a privilege, and the power for a stop of this kind comes from the Highway Traffic Act.
However, this power does not allow the police to pretend to stop a car for a legitimate investigation of a Highway Traffic Act offence. If the real reason the police have chosen to stop your car is because they don’t like the way you look or are just curious to stop you and see what you are doing, they will be breaching your right not to be detained, or arrested, arbitrarily, under s. 9 of the Charter.
Similarly, the police power to stop your car to investigate your licence, insurance, registration, or the safety of your car does not permit a wholesale search of your car or an investigation into the identity of your passengers. Since your passengers are not driving the car, they are not required to identify themselves to the police, unless the police have some other reasonable suspicion or belief that they are involved in a criminal offence. It stands to reason the police do not need to look into your trunk to see whether or not you have valid insurance or to determine whether or not you are wearing your seatbelt. Searches that go beyond the purposes of a Highway Traffic Act investigation will breach your right not to be unreasonably searched, protected by s. 8 of the Charter, unless the police can demonstrate that they otherwise had reasonable grounds or authority to search you.
The police may request that you allow them to search your vehicle over the course of a vehicle stop. A word to the wise: this ‘request’ does not need to sound like a request, but can sound a lot more like an order. You do not need to consent to allow the police to do this. If the police are asking or demanding that you let them search your car, make sure you insist on calling a lawyer right away, before you make any decision or give any permission.
Of course, if the police have grounds to believe you have committed a criminal offence, or if they observe you committing a Highway Traffic Act offence, they may have a right to stop your vehicle and conduct further investigations of you, and in some cases, your passengers. If you are stopped by the police, insist on your right to speak to a lawyer without delay and to be told why you are being stopped. This is the best way to ensure that your rights are protected