Does the state impound statute allow a police officer to search a vehicle after a traffic stop where the vehicle is impounded on a public highway?

We also note at least one other court has upheld a similar search where the state impound statute authorized impounding vehicles on public highways. In Starks v. State (Okla.Cr.1985) 696 P.2d 1041, the appellant drove his car into a private parking lot when the police officer initiated a traffic stop for speeding. The court validated an inventory search accompanying the impounding of the appellant's vehicle even though the state impound statute only authorized removal of vehicles from streets or highways. Without discussing the separate caretaking duty involved, that court upheld the inventory and explained "the fact that appellant drove onto private [196 Cal.App.3d 31] property, under these circumstances, will not vitiate the authorized impoundment and inventory of the vehicle." (Id., at p. 1043.)