Stopped by law enforcement — Illinois Permit Test

A driver being stopped by law enforcement should slow down, signal and pull onto the right-hand shoulder, or find the next safest place if the shoulder is too narrow.

Where you stop decides whether the officer walks up beside moving traffic. A narrow shoulder is a reason to go a little further, not to stop where you are.

Slow down, activate turn signal, and safely pull over onto the right-hand shoulder of the roadway. If there is no shoulder or it is too narrow to pull over, find the next safest location and pull over.

A driver must not stop on a bridge, a curve, next to a guardrail, a concrete wall or a median, or anywhere else that makes it hard for other vehicles to pass.

Those are the places with no room left over. Stopping there turns one traffic stop into the obstacle the next driver hits.

Do not slam on the brakes or stop in the traffic lane. Do not stop your vehicle on bridges, curves, next to guardrails, concrete walls, medians, or any place where it would be difficult for other vehicles to pass.

A stopped driver should stay in the vehicle with both hands in sight on the steering wheel until the officer says otherwise or the stop is over.

The officer cannot see what your hands are doing until they are on the wheel. Keeping them there is what makes the first ten seconds uneventful.

Stay in the vehicle with both hands clearly in sight on the steering wheel. Keep your hands on the steering wheel until the police officer instructs you otherwise or the traffic stop is complete.

A driver should not get out of the vehicle unless asked to, because getting out can be read as aggressive and as a threat to the officer.

Walking back toward a squad car reads as a threat, whatever you meant. Sitting still is the thing the officer is hoping you do.

Do not exit your vehicle unless asked to do so. Getting out of the vehicle can be perceived as aggressive behavior and a threat to the police officer’s safety.

Where the license or insurance is in the glove box, under the seat or on a cellphone, the driver should tell the officer before reaching for it and then follow their directions.

A hand disappearing toward a glove box is the moment a routine stop goes wrong. Saying where you are reaching turns it into nothing.

Comply with the officer’s request to see a driver’s license and proof of insurance. If these items are in the glove box or under the seat or if the proof of insurance is stored for display on a cellphone, inform the police officer of that fact and then follow the officer’s directions before retrieving the information.

A driver who cannot tell whether an unmarked vehicle is law enforcement may drive slowly below the speed limit and pull over in a well-lit populated place, drive to the nearest police station, or call 911.

Somebody impersonating an officer counts on you stopping in the dark. Driving on slowly to a lit place is cooperating, not fleeing.

If you cannot identify an unmarked police vehicle and/or the driver as law enforcement, drive slowly and carefully below the speed limit and either (1) pull over at a well-lit, populated location, (2) drive carefully to the nearest police station and attempt to attract the attention of a uniformed officer or (3) call 911.

A driver must not refuse to sign a traffic ticket, and signing is only an acknowledgment that the ticket was received rather than an admission of guilt.

People refuse to sign because they think it means agreeing. It does not, and refusing turns a ticket into a bigger problem than the ticket.

Should not refuse to sign a ticket if issued. A traffic ticket requires the driver’s signature. Signing a ticket is not an admission of the driver’s guilt - only an acknowledgment of receiving the ticket.

Officers must give their name and badge number on request, and a complaint about a traffic stop can be filed with the agency’s internal affairs division or civilian complaint board.

A driver who disagrees at the roadside has nowhere useful to take it. The complaint board is where it goes instead, and the badge number is what makes it possible.

Officers are required to provide their names and badge numbers upon request. Written complaints can be filed with the agency’s internal affairs division or civilian complaint board.

Where should an Illinois driver pull over when stopped by law enforcement?

Onto the right-hand shoulder, or the next safest place. Where you stop decides whether the officer walks up beside moving traffic. A narrow shoulder is a reason to go a little further, not to stop where you are. Illinois Rules of the Road 2026, p.21: “Slow down, activate turn signal, and safely pull over onto the right-hand shoulder of the roadway. If there is no shoulder or it is too narrow to pull over, find the next safest location and pull over.”