The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has decided, after consulting with Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox’s office, that a dangling object of any size constitutes something that can obstruct the view of a driver, and therefore is illegal and grounds for cops to stop motorists, freep.com reported.
The law about such obstructions had been put under the question mark since a man challenged his arrest after being pulled over because he had a 4-inch Tweety air freshener hanging from his rearview, in January 2006.
The Tweety Bird air freshener made Westland Police to pull over Lonnie Ray Davis. Policemen then found in his car a loaded gun, cocaine and an open pint of Hennessy cognac. Davis was also not having a valid driver’s license.
Davis got convicted on federal weapons and drug charges, but appealed to that decision, on the grounds that the air-freshener wasn’t probable cause for cops to pull him over. The court didn’t overturn Davis' conviction and therefore he is serving a sentence of more than 15 years in prison.
Still, Michigan’s law was questioned whether or not was too ambiguous.They finally reached to the conclusion that “The law’s language is unqualified: an obstruction of any size for any amount of time falls within it,” as the court wrote in an opinion released April 30.
Michigan State Police supported the law, saying it’s been clear for years that dangling objects (such as graduation tassels, dice, garter belts, jewelry and more), while driving can block a driver's view and are therefore illegal. The offense is a civil infraction with a fine of $100 or more.
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