What are my rights if police set up a roadblock and stop my vehicle?

Police have the power to set up roadblocks and stop vehicles under section 4 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which allows a superintendent to authorise road checks to ascertain whether a vehicle is carrying a person who has committed or intends to commit a indictable offence, or a person who is unlawfully at large. Section 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 gives officers in uniform the power to stop any vehicle without needing a specific reason.

For more targeted roadblocks in connection with serious violence, section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 can be used. A section 60 authorisation must come from an officer of inspector rank or above and is time-limited to a specific geographic area where serious violence is anticipated or where it is believed that persons are carrying offensive weapons or dangerous instruments.

At a roadblock, you must stop when signalled to do so by a uniformed officer. Failing to stop is a criminal offence under section 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Once stopped, you can ask the officer why the roadblock has been set up and under what authority. This does not give you the right to refuse to comply with lawful directions, but it allows you to understand the legal basis.

You may be asked for your driving documents (licence, insurance, and MOT), and you are entitled to produce them within seven days at a police station of your choice if you do not have them with you. You may be asked to undertake a breath test.

If the stop is used to conduct a search of your vehicle or your person, the officer must comply with the GOWISELY requirements of Code A: grounds, object, warrant card, identity, station, entitlement to a record, legal power used, and you are detained. You are entitled to a copy of any search record.

Key Points

• You must stop at a police roadblock when signalled by a uniformed officer
• Failing to stop is a criminal offence
• You can ask why the roadblock has been set up and what legal authority is being used
• A section 60 roadblock for serious violence must be authorised by an inspector or above
• You can be asked for driving documents and to undertake a breath test
• Any vehicle or personal search at a roadblock must comply with Code A requirements
• You are entitled to a copy of any search record
• Section 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 gives a general power to stop vehicles