Court strikes down Michigan "fuzzy dice" ban... then reinstates it...
A man named Lonnie Ray Davis was pulled over by Michigan police. When they searched his car, they found an open alcohol container, crack, a wad of cash, a stun gun, and a .38 caliber handgun. He was, of course, arrested. But the reason they pulled him over has become a constitutional law issue: Davis had a Tweety Bird ornament dangling from his rear view mirror, and Michigan law forbids dangling things that "obstruct the vision of the driver of the vehicle."Davis' argument was that the Tweety Bird didn't obstruct his vision, so the cops had no right to pull him over, and therefore the items they found should be suppressed. The 6th Court of Appeals initially struck down the Michigan law since it does not define "to what degree the driver's vision must be obstructed or for how long." Noting that a great many cars have objects dangling from their mirrors, and so may be in unwitting violation of the law, "the statute itself provides no guidance either to motorists or police as to which ones" violate the law, and so must be scrapped.
The court didn't suppress the evidence, and shortly after its ruling it rescinded its decision striking down the ban. The reason is thought to be that the court was required to let Michigan plead its case for the ban before the court struck it down. The court has not given a reason for its reversed decision. As far as the now-reinstated fuzzy dice ban, for now it remains a reason for the police to pull you over if and when they decide.
[Source: Michigan Messenger]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SteveJ 5:24PM (1/04/2009)
Better not bring fuzzy dice on roadtrips through MI. This law makes more sense than AZ's license plate cover law. The fine on both is outrageous though.
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Luce 9:50PM (1/04/2009)
But I don't wanna take the fuzzy dice out of my car D: I can see just fine! This is stupid!
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firstplace 5:40PM (1/04/2009)
Your tax dollars at work. I wonder what the evidence is that dangling objects cause accidents? Maybe the same for red light cams?
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Bungle 9:24PM (1/04/2009)
Or using a cell phone while driving?
Ian R 5:51PM (1/04/2009)
Colorado has a similar law. If you have anything hanging from your rearview mirror, its cause for a stop.
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ls1vette 6:11PM (1/04/2009)
The real purpose of those laws is one way to prevent having anything like a radar detector on windshield by claiming it reduced vision's view.
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falcon5768 6:23PM (1/04/2009)
Actually the real purpose is more incedious than that, since they could just outright ban the radar detector if they wanted to (and some states have.)
Its purely used as a stop excuse. States makes these so they can prevent accusations of profiling by saying you where stopped for something else, but upon your being stopped they found other things.
This is why if your stopped for anything like this you NEVER EVER let them search your car. If something is out in the open well your screwed because plain sight laws then apply. But if nothing is out for cops to see it is against your constitutional right to search your car without consent.
Unfortunately police prey on you not knowing this fact and will intimidate and threaten you if your deny them access. Its not a question of you having nothing to hide, its a question of them abusing their power.
Tom 7:36PM (1/04/2009)
Yes, this law exists in Minnesota as well, and is consistently used for "insidious" reasons. People get pulled over for something as small as an air freshener. But the bigger issue is who gets pulled over for this -- those in the legal community around here say it is almost exclusively black drivers. Trusting a cop with an over-broad, highly discretionary law is like trusting an ape to watch your banana stash.
LawTalkingDude 8:27PM (1/04/2009)
Falcon476, you are right that the real purpose of these laws is to find a way to allow for a stop and possible search for perps and items. However, you are slightly wrong when it comes to advice relating to searching cars and never allowing the police permission to search. Two things: you already have a lowered level of privacy expectation in your car vs. your home, so the general advice is never put anything in your car you wouldn't want found because they will find a way to get to it, often initially with the "Terry stop and frisk" that an officer does to feel your body for weapons and search within your wingspan (which includes the glovebox, etc.) for weapons. The second thing is that many police agencies now automatically impound vehicles in many cases, thus allowing for searches under the inventory exception when impounding cars. And add the recent Atwater case that allows for arrests for misdemeanor items (not wearing a seatbelt in that case) and now the police have all the reasons in the world to pull you over, search you, and find a way to search your car. No expectation of privacy in a vehicle is what everyone should remember.
Justin 6:34PM (1/04/2009)
LOL @ liberalism, form of mental retardation.
This guy is a straight up criminal, and he has a right to delay his punishment or judgement based on frivilous technicalities, only in states like Michigan and New York.
Next thing you know child rapists are getting 6 months probation, oh wait, they are already getting 6 months probation for raping 9 year old girls, in Vermont, thanks again progressive liberalism!
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Juan 6:51PM (1/04/2009)
This has nothing to do with the conservative-liberal spectrum. Grind your political axes somewhere besides Autoblog.
Travis 7:18PM (1/04/2009)
are you kidding me? you do know that there are Amendments other than #2, in particular you might want to read up on #4.
Harrison 10:26PM (1/04/2009)
Ah yes, it's the same damn liberals who brought us out of the depression and led us to victory in the war a few years later.
Toledo Guy 7:29PM (1/04/2009)
Every employee at Detroit Metro Airport is given hang tag with an RFID chip to use for the employee lot. Has been for years. The Wayne County Airport Authority had to be aware of the law, and chose to ignore it.
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Autblogist! 7:50PM (1/04/2009)
Anybody who attended a college/university, apartment complex, parking garage, etc, has had one of these hanging something hanging from their rearview mirror. Being from Michigan, I already know the obsurdity of their traffic laws. Including giving cops more money for writing more tickets. Redford PD eat, SH*T and DIE!
Philip Powell 10:51PM (1/04/2009)
Anything dangling from a mirror, even if only 2" wide, has the ability to hide a pedestrian, cyclist, or motorcycle from view at an intersection, and that's enough to cause a fatal collision. As well, a dangling object, swinging back-and-forth, is a distraction. It ought to be a law, nationwide, that nothing should be attached to a rear view mirror. That's not an intrusion of privacy, friends, it's just common sense. Besides, they make the car look ugly. (;>
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B 11:39PM (1/04/2009)
Uh..not to rain on your parade, Powell, but most people aren't retarded chimps. They won't be going "oooh, ahhh" whenever they see dice dangling from their mirrors.
Not to mention, a greater worry than dangling dice are the A pillars in cars. They sometimes block your entire view of the left or right hand side of an intersection. -- And how about the rearview mirrors themselves? I guess no one can drive an old Bentley or Austin-Healey; after all, it would just be "too" dangerous, wouldn't it?
John 8:40PM (1/04/2009)
I don't have a problem with the law. Have you ever seen how much crap, especially young women, have hanging off the rear view mirror? Let's give them a ticket for yacking on the phone and texting too.
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hoov23 11:54AM (1/05/2009)
Agree, I'm bothered by the amount of junk people hang from their mirrors practically right in front of their face. My mother insists on having rosaries, jewelry, her stethoscope, an air freshener (why?), and who knows what else hanging there. Whenever I borrow her SUV (Ikea and Smart aren't compatible) I always remove all that junk. Often I see 4-foot tall elderly women driving below the dashboard, and they have a handicapped 'billboard' obstructing whatever view they actually had (the idea is that you hang it when you park, just like parking garage passes). I position my radar detector and EZpass so that they're out of my view and hang my parking pass when I park. What's so hard to understand about this, to me the law makes perfect sense. I wish they would ticket everyone who violates it, and while they're at it, anyone who drives in the rain with no headlights and who drives without signaling.
PukeFlavor 1:03AM (1/08/2009)
I find this interesting, because as a 6'4" driver of a '99 Ford Explorer, the main obstruction to my view out the front is the rear view mirror. I haven't killed anyone, but over the eight years I've owned it I've had a couple of semi-close calls, both with pedestrians stupid enough to not make eye contact prior to crossing. The mirror, which is unadjustable for height, happens to be in my line of sight for things coming from the right, like intersections, sidewalks, and 270-degree on and offramps. I'm constantly ducking to look under the mirror. I'm positive it's affected my posture.
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