Final answer:
Vehicle stops require reasonable suspicion to initiate, and police may ask questions and frisk for weapons if they suspect the person is armed and dangerous. Roadblocks, on the other hand, do not require individual reasonable suspicion. Probable cause is needed for more invasive searches during either vehicle stops or roadblocks.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of law and legal standards, vehicle stops and roadblocks are dissimilar primarily in their application of reasonable suspicion and probable cause. A vehicle stop typically occurs when an officer has a reasonable suspicion that the driver has committed or is about to commit a crime, as per Terry v. Ohio. At a vehicle stop, the police may ask questions and frisk the driver if there is a reasonable suspicion that they are armed and dangerous, without violating the Fourth Amendment. Conversely, roadblocks do not require reasonable suspicion for each individual car stopped; instead, they are set up for all vehicles to pass through systematically for a specific purpose, like checking for intoxicated drivers.
Probable cause
is required for in-depth searches and seizures, and if a police officer wants to conduct a search during either a vehicle stop or roadblock, they must either obtain consent, have probable cause, or believe that waiting for a warrant would lead to the destruction of evidence. Relevant cases such as New Jersey v. T. L. O. establish that there are different standards like reasonable suspicion and probable cause which apply in different contexts to determine the legality of a search or seizure.