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The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has just come up with what they hope is a new, safer place to keep the license and registration in your vehicle.

It's never fun being pulled over by police, right? Whether you've been speeding or made an unsafe lane change, or for whatever reason, when the red and blue lights come on behind you, it's not a situation any of us want to be in.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (MN DPS) understands, and while they can't stop police from pulling you over if you're breaking the law, they DID just do something to try to make the experience safer for drivers and law enforcement officers.

My dad, who was a police officer back in Wisconsin, always told me to keep my hands in plain view on the steering wheel so the approaching officer can see them, and only reach for my license, registration and insurance forms once the officer asked me to do so. But even if you do that, and you store those documents in the glove compartment or pocket on your car door (like in my SUV), reaching for those documents can create some tense moments.

Which is why MN DPS created something called a 'Not-Reaching-Pouch.' According to their Facebook page, it's a plastic case that is designed to make it easier for you to store information like your license, registration, and insurance information and for law enforcement to see when drivers are reaching for those documents. Its goal is to help reduce deadly force encounters between law enforcement and citizens during traffic stops.

The intent of the 'Not-Reaching-Pouch' is to store a person’s driver’s license and insurance card in a special pouch that’s kept in plain sight in the vehicle on an air vent, sun visor or other visible location.

The post said troopers with the Minnesota State Patrol will be handing them out for free during various community events throughout Minnesota in the coming weeks and months. You can check it out below.

And speaking of inventions, the state of Minnesota has been the home to many famous things we use day in and day out. Keep scrolling to see how many famous inventions you knew were designed here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes!

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CHECK IT OUT: 13 Life-Changing Products Invented in Minnesota

 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: Minnesota's Top-10 Most Odd Inventions

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