Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-556_e1pf.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

4 

KANSAS v. GLOVER 

Opinion of the Court 

III 
We have previously recognized that States have a “vital
interest in ensuring that only those qualified to do so are 
permitted  to  operate  motor  vehicles  [and]  that  licensing, 
registration, and vehicle inspection requirements are being 
observed.”  Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U. S. 648, 658 (1979). 
With this in mind, we turn to whether the facts known to 
Deputy Mehrer at the time of the stop gave rise to reason- 
able suspicion.  We conclude that they did. 

Before initiating the stop, Deputy Mehrer observed an in-
dividual operating a 1995 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck with 
Kansas  plate  295ATJ.  He  also  knew  that  the  registered 
owner of the truck had a revoked license and that the model 
of  the  truck  matched  the  observed  vehicle.  From  these 
three  facts,  Deputy  Mehrer  drew  the  commonsense  infer-
ence that Glover was likely the driver of the vehicle, which 
provided  more  than  reasonable  suspicion  to  initiate  the 
stop.

The fact that the registered owner of a vehicle is not al-
ways the driver of the vehicle does not negate the reason-
ableness of Deputy Mehrer’s inference.  Such is the case with 
all reasonable inferences.  The reasonable suspicion inquiry 
“falls considerably short” of 51% accuracy, see United States 
v.  Arvizu,  534  U. S.  266,  274  (2002),  for,  as  we  have  ex-
plained,  “[t]o  be  reasonable  is  not  to  be  perfect,”  Heien  v. 
North Carolina, 574 U. S. 54, 60 (2014).

Glover’s revoked license does not render Deputy Mehrer’s 
inference  unreasonable  either.    Empirical  studies  demon-
strate  what  common  experience  readily  reveals:  Drivers
with  revoked  licenses  frequently  continue  to  drive  and 
therefore to pose safety risks to other motorists and pedes-
trians.  See, e.g., 2 T. Neuman et al., National Coop. Hwy. 
Research Program Report 500: A Guide for Addressing Col-
lisions Involving Unlicensed Drivers and Drivers With Sus-
pended  or  Revoked  Licenses,  p. III–1  (2003)  (noting  that 
75% of drivers with suspended or revoked licenses continue