Failure to Signal Turn Provides Sufficient Cause For Stop

State of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee v. Scott Fasteen:

On November 5, 2006, a patrol officer clocked a pickup traveling 39 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone. The officer followed the vehicle driven by the Defendant. After the Defendant turned left onto a side road without using his turn signal, the officer stopped the vehicle. The officer performed field sobriety tests on the Defendant and ultimately arrested him for driving under the influence and subsequently charged and convicted of the offense.

Prior to pleading guilty the Defendant filed a motion to suppress all evidence, alleging that the officer did not have sufficient cause to make the intial stop of his vehicle for failing to signal his turn.

The district court denied the motion to suppress and the Defendant entered into a conditional guilty plea and reserved the issue of the stop for appeal.

The North Dakota Supreme Court upheld the district court decision and held:

The arresting officer in this case made an investigative stop of Fasteen's vehicle after observing Fasteen make a left-hand turn without signaling. Under N.D.C.C. § 39-10-38:

1. No person may turn a vehicle or move right or left upon a roadway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety without giving an appropriate signal in the manner hereinafter provided.

2. A signal of intention to turn or move right or left when required must be given continuously during not less than the last one hundred feet [30.48 meters] traveled by the vehicle before turning.

The Defendant contended that the language "when required" in statute allowed a driver to make a turn without signaling if it was safe to do so. The court rejected this argument and held that a driver must signal prior to making a turn and can only make a turn when it is safe to do so. Based on this the court held that the minor violation of law was sufficient to justify the stop.