You see the lights in the rearview mirror and pull over. Sometimes you may know precisely why you're being pulled over—other times, not so much. A new bill in the Colorado legislature would prohibit police officers from asking, "Do you know why I'm pulling you over?" Is this law a good idea for Missouri?

KDVR Denver says similar legislation has already been passed in Minnesota, California, and Connecticut. I'm a fan of it, and I'd like to see it become the law everywhere, including Missouri.

The Purpose of the Law

KDVR says the law's purpose is twofold. First, they cite a AAA director of public affairs who says limiting the time a traffic stop takes makes both the officer conducting the stop and the vehicle's stopped driver and passengers safer. The point is that the less time everyone is stopped on the shoulder or a road or highway, the less likely the officer will be hit or that an inattentive driver could crash into the traffic stop.

Colorado Senator Faith Winter, a Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, says it's about the fact that many of her constituents don't have the answer to the question, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" Nor do they know that it's not a question that has to be answered. She also feels eliminating the question adds more transparency to law enforcement involved with traffic stops, which might build more trust with officers.

My Personal Experience Being Pulled Over And Asked The Question

The first time I was pulled over as a teenager, the police officer asked me, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" I had maybe been driving for a year. I was upset and scared, racking my brain to figure out what I had done wrong. That was before he got to the window of my car and asked me that question.

When asked, I couldn't answer. I had blown a red light two miles and a left turn ago. It took the officer that long to run my plates before he pulled me over. I wasn't even thinking about what I was doing two miles back. Then he says, "If you knew what you did, I would let you off with a warning. Since you didn't, you get a ticket."

I believe he would've written me a ticket regardless of what I said, and it felt then, and still does, that he was sticking it to me. Just being a hard ass, because he could, and I was some high school kid.

While I don't get pulled over often, I've been stopped a handful of times. No other officer has asked me that question, and regardless of whether I received a ticket, no other officer has left that kind of bad taste in my mouth over a traffic stop.

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So yeah, I'd love to see that question prohibited.