OBJECT HANGING FROM REARVIEW MIRROR

An object hanging from the rearview mirror of a motor vehicle does not provide sufficient grounds for a detention unless the police officer has an objectively reasonable basis to believe that the object is obstructing or reducing the driver’s clear view through the windshield or side windows. See CVC § 26708(a)(2). 

Thus, the enforcement stop of a vehicle with a tree-shaped air-freshener hanging from the rearview mirror was ruled unconstitutional in People v. White (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 636, but found constitutional in the more recent case of People v. Colbert (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 1068. In White, however, the police officer offered no evidence at the trial as to why he believed the air freshener might be obstructing the driver’s view, and the opinion made clear to indicate that the outcome might have been different if he had, which might explain the difference in the outcome of these two cases involving alleged violations of CVC § 26708(a)(2).