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Justifying BS traffic stops

There's a telling discussion string at the Texas District and County Attorneys Association user forum in which an assistant DA from Snyder, TX is seeking to justify a traffic stop where a driver was pulled over for not having mud flaps on their truck. Only problem: That's not actually an offense under the Transportation Code. Prosecutor Ben Smith asked his colleagues:Is there any statutory authority to stop a dually pickup truck because it is missing a mudflap? I've scoured the transportation code and the closest authority I can find is the 547.004 general offense of operating a vehicle that is unsafe so as to endanger a person (AKA "defective equipment"). If this is all I have to rely upon I will need some evidence as to how this was putting persons in danger -- flying gravel perforating hapless hitchhikers perhaps...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on October 20, 2010 (boomark / email).