Air Freshener Citations on the Rise, Stir Controversy

A Tweety Bird air freshener, a rosary, a window-mounted GPS unit — these are some of the items for which Illinois and Michigan driver have been pulled over and ticketed for by police, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In 2004, roughly 20,000 drivers were warned or cited by police for window obstructions. This year that figure is supposed to top 38,000 — a 91% increase. The law says drivers can be cited for anything a police officer thinks might “materially obstruct” a driver’s vision, which can include a 2-inch car deodorizer.

While safety concerns always have a place, many civil rights advocates and defense lawyers say the law is used for more insidious purposes: as a reason to pull drivers over and perform a search of their vehicles. An Illinois appeal court upheld a ruling that threw out the conviction for Xanax possession against a southern Illinoisan. He was pulled over in 2006 because of a tree-shaped deodorizer in his car.

In Michigan a state senator sponsored legislation to overturn the law against dangling ornaments after his own teenage daughter was pulled over for having a string hanging from her rearview mirror. State Sen. Ron Jelinek (R-Three Oaks), shepherded the bill through the Senate 37-0, and it now faces action in the state House of Representatives.

The feeling is police can use the window-obstruction law to pull over vehicles arbitrarily, and minorities bear the brunt of this practice. A 2008 review of traffic stops showed that minority drivers were 13% more likely to get pulled over than white drivers and 8% more likely to be cited for an offense, according to a University of Illinois at Chicago study.

Do you hang anything from your car’s rearview mirror? What do you think about the prospects of the windshield-obstruction law remaining on the books?

Police Handing Out Tickets for Air Freshener (Chicago Tribune)

Comments

Just about anything is a pretext for a stop in a police state like IL. I am glad(and sad for others) that I am not forced to DWB, drive while black, that would really suck here.

The law will not get fixed, its too useful for the state for other purposes, like most laws, selective enforcement and police/prosecutor discretion.

I'm sorry, but if an officer pulls someone over for a citation because they've got an air freshener on their rear-view mirror, they've got serious problems.

Priority should be:

1. Murder
...
...
...
109405. Tree-shaped Car Freshners

Glad that someone finally find that minorities are more prone to citations.

I have my university parking permit hanging from my rearview mirror. I won't take it off because it's too much of a hassle to take off and put back on every time I park.

I live in Southern California and have never been pulled over for that or my GPS.

I wonder how many drivers have been pulled over because of GPSes mounted on their windshield in these states?

With so many states hurting for revenue, this is an easy way to make bucks. Most people just pay - they don't fight. The stupid, senseless tickets go out, and the cash comes rolling in.

my parents always have an airfreshener on their mirror. and they always have a cross dangling on it too for protection.

Billy4202 -

Did you ever think that maybe the cop initiating the traffic stop may work for a slow town where there aren't murders? Also, a traffic stop is a valid tool used to investigate cars and drivers for suspicion of other crimes at times, you know.

Ashw - take the foil off.

Police just want cash cash cash how an air freshener would obstruct my foward vision and even the gps i have one and i always set it up at the left behind the steeering wheel never been stopped by because of that reason now the police should use their time in more important matters than an air freshener