Does Terry give an officer carte blanche to search everywhere in the car?
A. No. The protective search of the vehicle is justified solely by the danger that weapons stored there could be used against the officers or bystanders, and the search must be “limited to those areas in which a weapon may be placed or hidden.” However, if “while conducting a legitimate Terry search of the interior of the automobile, the officer should . . . discover contraband other than weapons, he clearly cannot be required to ignore the contraband, and the Fourth Amendment does not require its suppression in such circumstances.” Long, 463 U.S. at 1050; accord, Sibron, 392 U.S., at 69-70 (WHITE, J., concurring); id., at 79 (Harlan, J., concurring in result).
