Opinion ID: 2324370
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Degree to Which the Stop of a Motorist Advances a Speeding Investigation

Text: [¶ 14] Courts have recognized that motorist stops may significantly advance the investigation of serious crimes in cases where motorists are stopped soon after the crime and in the vicinity where the crime occurred because the stopped motorists might well have been in the vicinity of the crime at the time it occurred. Lidster, 540 U.S. at 427, 124 S.Ct. 885; see also Gorneault, 2007 ME 49, ¶¶ 2, 9, 918 A.2d at 1208, 1209 (concluding that a roadblock significantly advanced a burglary investigation because it was set up within two hours of the burglary, in the same area in which it was committed); Gipson, 268 S.W.3d at 189 (concluding that a motorist stop significantly advanced a robbery investigation when the motorists were stopped in the same parking lot where the suspects were last seen); Baxter, 626 S.W.2d at 937 (concluding that a motorist stop significantly advanced a robbery investigation when the motorist was the sole person in the park one-quarter mile from the robbery, where the robber likely fled); Williamson, 607 A.2d at 475, 478 (concluding that an investigatory motorist stop was reasonable, when the motorist was in one of two cars from which gun shots were heard, and the other car sped off). [¶ 15] Unlike a motorist who witnesses a hit-and-run accident or a robbery, the average motorist who witnesses noncriminal speeding is unlikely to take much notice of it because it is a common occurrence. In a national survey, about eighty percent of all drivers reported speeding within the past month, and about one-third reported speeding on the day of the interview. See National Forum on Speeding, Strategies for Reducing Speeding-Related Fatalities & Injuries, Summary Report 2 (2005), available at http://www.nhtsa.gov/ people/injury/enforce/NatForumSpeeding/ images/SpeedingForum.pdf. Because speeding is common, the likelihood that the average motorist will be able to assist law enforcement with a speeding investigation is not great. Therefore, although in this case LaPlante did in fact observe and remember the red Pontiac, as a general matter, stopping motorists who are potential witnesses to other motorists' civil speeding infractions will not significantly advance the investigation by law enforcement officials of speeding violations.