Stopped by a police officer — Massachusetts Permit Test

State law requires you to pull over and stop when signaled by a police officer, whether the officer is in a car or on foot.

The signal does not have to come from a cruiser. An officer on foot has the same authority.

State law requires you to pull over to the side of the road and stop when signaled by a police officer. You must pull over whether the officer is in a police car or on foot.

Move your vehicle completely to the right side of the road when stopped; do not pull over to the left.

The officer walks up on the traffic side if you stop on the left, which puts them in the lane.

Carefully and slowly move your vehicle completely to the right side of the road. Do NOT pull over to the left.

Do not stop your vehicle in an intersection, in front of a driveway, or in a travel lane when pulled over.

The place you stop is part of the stop. Blocking a driveway makes the next ten minutes somebody else's problem too.

Do not stop your vehicle in an intersection, in front of a driveway, or in a travel lane.

Turn off the engine and radio, and put an automatic in park or a manual in neutral with the parking brake on.

A car that cannot move is what lowers the temperature of a traffic stop for everybody in it.

Turn off the engine and radio.

Stay in the vehicle, and only get out if the officer instructs you to.

Getting out unasked is the single most alarming thing a driver can do at a stop.

Stay in the vehicle (both you and your passengers). Only get out if instructed by the officer.

Wait until the officer asks for your license and registration before reaching into the glove compartment.

A hand disappearing into an unseen space reads as reaching for a weapon, whatever the driver knows it is.

Wait until the officer asks for your license and registration before you (or a passenger) reach into the glove compartment.

Chapter 90, Section 11 requires you to have your license and registration handy when operating a vehicle, and a first offense of failing to produce either carries a $35 fine.

It is a small fine for a document you already own. Having them within reach is the whole requirement.

There is a $35 fine for a first offense for the failure to produce either document.

Refusing to give your name and address, or giving a false one, can bring a $100 fine, arrest, and criminal charges.

Without a name the officer cannot write a citation at all, which is why the law treats the refusal as an offense of its own.

If you fail to comply, or provide a false name or address, you can be fined $100

If it is dark, leave your headlights on and put the interior overhead light on.

The interior light lets the officer see the inside of the car before they reach the window, which is what makes the approach calmer.

If it is dark, leave your headlights on and put the interior overhead light on.

Do not hand your documents to an officer in a wallet or holder.

The officer has to take the card out, which means taking the wallet. Handing over the card alone avoids that entirely.

Hand the documents to the officer when requested and do not present the documents in a wallet or holder.

Once a citation is issued the officer must file it and cannot take it back, though you have the right to challenge it in court.

Arguing at the roadside changes nothing about the ticket. The place to contest it is the hearing.

Once a citation is issued, the officer is required to file it and cannot take it back.

Massachusetts does not require you to sign a citation, and a signature elsewhere only confirms receipt rather than admitting a violation.

Some other states do ask you to sign. Read it first: your name there means you got it, not that you did it.

Your signature should only confirm receipt of the citation, not proof of a violation.

When the officer says you can go, signal, check your mirrors, and return to the travel lane; on a highway accelerate in the breakdown lane before merging.

Pulling straight out from a standstill into highway traffic is the last thing that can go wrong at a stop.

If you are on a highway, accelerate to a safe speed in the breakdown lane before merging into traffic.

When must a driver pull over for a police officer?

Whenever signaled, whether the officer is in a car or on foot. The signal does not have to come from a cruiser. An officer on foot has the same authority. Massachusetts Driver's Manual, p.121: “State law requires you to pull over to the side of the road and stop when signaled by a police officer. You must pull over whether the officer is in a police car or on foot.”