Carroll v. United States upheld the right to search which part of a vehicle?

• A. The passenger seat
• B. The glove compartment
• C. The trunk
• D. The engine compartment

Answer: (C)

The key idea is the automobile exception: when police have probable cause to believe evidence is in a vehicle, they may search the vehicle without a warrant because cars are mobile and people have a relatively lower expectation of privacy in them. This authority covers the whole vehicle and anything inside that could reasonably contain the sought evidence. The trunk is a central storage area inside a car, so it clearly falls within that scope and is a natural example of where evidence might be kept. That’s why, in this question, the trunk is identified as the area that can be searched. The same rule would extend to other parts of the car as well if they could reasonably contain the evidence, but the trunk is the most representative choice in this context.