Too big for its britches
While I think we can appreciate the effort, when police pull over hybrid car drivers to give them gas cards, the .gov may have overstepped some boundaries:
The Alexandria Police Department is teaming up with the “Ford Hybrid Patrol” to pull over fuel-efficient drivers at random in a customized Mercury Mariner Hybrid patrol SUV (complete with flashers and bullhorn). Drivers will be rewarded free gas cards.
It’s part of Ford Motor Company’s Washington, DC effort to promote fuel efficiency and explain the myths and realities of hybrid technology.
Via David Kopel.
November 5th, 2005 at 1:43 pm
I may be a civil lawyer rather than a criminal one (no pun intended), but the way I learned it, police can’t initiate a seizure — stop you — unless they have, at the least, a reasonable and articulable suspicion that you may have committed a crime. But I guess the Fourth Amendment is far less important that environmental correctness.
November 5th, 2005 at 2:17 pm
What a great idea! Here are some more ways police can encourage good behavior:
– Strip-search people who keep their lawns well-maintained.
– Handcuff anyone who has recently donated blood to Medic.
– Arrest and jail citizens who separate their recyclables.
November 5th, 2005 at 10:18 pm
I am SOOOO tempted to buy the “Hybrid” emblems from Honda and put them on my Accord…
November 5th, 2005 at 11:04 pm
A hybrid SUV?!? Isn’t that like jumbo shrimp?
November 5th, 2005 at 11:32 pm
Or even better, cops pull over a hybrid and find a body/drugs/other-illegal-stuff in the car. The get to court and rule that the stop was unlawful.
November 6th, 2005 at 1:02 am
I would think that any officer who pulls over a lawful driver for this reason alone has not met the probable cause requirement. As such, they are subject to civil and criminal lawsuit by reason of abusing the authority of their position. You would, of course, have to refuse the gas card, but the lawsuit would more than balance out the “loss”.
November 6th, 2005 at 11:01 pm
Jay – my guess is that they are only pulling over people who have the special Virginia Hybrid license plates from DMV.
Anyway, its just another reason I can’t stand Alexandria (and refuse to live there)