I stand corrected. I have been looking around my saved researches and can't find anything that says the officers can frisk for safety. Guess I should save indignation for something I actually have research to show!!

Really SMJ you were correct on the original topic, an extra issue was added along the way. This topic was not regarding the officer's ability to search but the officer's ability to ask the driver to step from the vehicle and the offense, if any, if the driver refuses.
Even in the pat down question, my experience is that it comes down to the officer's ability/willingness to articulate his reasons for what it is he wants to do or the prosecutor's ability/forethought to bring it out in the record during a hearing.
I shared your indignation.

For a good case explaining why we prosecute people who interfere with an officer's work, read this case.

Not only does the case help my original question, it also helps the reply brief I have to file in another case. Thanks.

OK, I guess I will weigh on this one. Officers will ask a driver or passengers to get out of the vehicle for many reasons. One is officer safety--no shoulder or narrow shoulder and talking to person while he or she is still in the vehicle could be dangerous. Another is the safety of the person or persons in the vehicle. I have seen more than one tape of a black and white or the stopped vehicle be totaled by a driver who either wasn't paying attention or who was impaired. That's one reason many of the Troopers ask that a driver stand on the verge and not between the patrol unit and his or her car while the officer completes the paperwork. A third reason is another form of officer safety--to get the person away from any weapons he may have in the vehicle. If the officer suspects the person may have weapons in the vehicle, the officer will usually ask the person to get out and move away from it.

Just some thoughts.

Janette A

But, Janet, what do your officers do if the person simply does not want to leave their vehicle? They just don't want to leave because they don't feel like getting out of the car. Then what?

Then they get arrested for...see above posts.

When is it necessary for a person to "feel" like obeying a police officer, "feel" like being searched, "feel" like being arrested.