Under the automobile exception, when may police search a vehicle without a warrant?

• A. When there is probable cause to believe the vehicle contains evidence of a crime and the vehicle is readily movable.
• B. When the officer has reasonable suspicion that the driver is unlicensed.
• C. When the vehicle is parked and unoccupied.
• D. When the officer sees drugs in the glove compartment from distance.

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that vehicles can be searched without a warrant when there is probable cause to believe the vehicle contains evidence or contraband and the vehicle is readily movable. That movability matters because cars can be moved quickly, which could allow evidence to be moved or destroyed before a warrant could be obtained, so police may conduct a search on the spot.

In this scenario, there is probable cause to believe the vehicle contains evidence and the vehicle is readily movable. Those two elements together satisfy the automobile exception, so a warrantless search is permissible.

Reasons the other options don’t fit: simply having reasonable suspicion about the driver being unlicensed isn’t enough to justify a vehicle search; probable cause is required. A parked and unoccupied vehicle isn’t readily movable, so the automobile exception wouldn’t automatically apply. Seeing drugs in the glove compartment from a distance could contribute to probable cause, but the essential movability condition is not addressed by that choice, so it doesn’t establish the exception by itself.