A Good Idea for Drivers?…. or Not?

Warren Redlich, an attorney practicing in southern Florida and the founder of Fair DUI, recently introduced a rather revolutionary approach to interacting with police officers when you are pulled over. Available for free (you just download it and print it out) on the Fair DUI blog is a flyer that a driver can press up against their window for a police officer to read in the event of a traffic stop.

What does the flyer say exactly? Well, it’s slightly different for each state, because each state has slightly different laws regarding what a civilian’s rights are when interacting with police, but the Florida version, which started this internet sensation, contains the following words:

I REMAIN SILENT.

NO SEARCHES

I WANT MY LAWYER.

Please put any tickets under the windshield wiper

I am not required to sign   #318.14(2).

I am not required to hand you my license  #322.15.

Thus, I am not opening my window

I will comply with clearly stated lawful orders

The back of the flyer, which is visible to the person inside the car, contains a series of instructions for the driver, including the admonition to remain completely silent, and to record the entire interaction with the officer in question. Along with the display of the flyer, Redlich says that the driver should put their license, registration and insurance information in a clear plastic baggie and attach it to the outside of the car window, which provides the officer with all of the information they need, but allows for zero physical interaction.

The blog also contains a page entitled “The Fair DUI Flyer: Is It For You?” in which it is explains that the purpose of the flyer is not meant to get you out of speeding tickets or allow you to get away with drunk driving. It’s sole purpose is, according to the blog, to provide protection for sober people at risk for a drunk driving arrest, and for civil liberty activists.

But that doesn’t change the fact that many people are viewing this as an opportunity to get away with drunk driving, including a number of police departments, several of whom have gone on record to say that use of this flyer within their jurisdiction will result in arrest.

Another thing to consider, as a number of attorneys around the country have said, is that this kind of action draws attention to the driver. Several DUI attorneys, in responding to this flyer, have said that they would only advise using it if the driver is completely sober and fully in compliance with the law, because inviting closer police scrutiny when you have something to hide could end very badly for you.

Flyers have been made available for drivers in New York, Florida, California, New Jersey, Ohio, Arkansas, and Texas thus far. There is not currently anything of this nature available to Michigan drivers, but at the rate that these are being created and posted to the blog, it probably won’t be long.

So what do you think about this? Would you get it if a flyer was made for Michigan drivers?