How does police radar work?

[dcdoug]

You should go back and take some pictures of his location and the construction equipment (if its still there) from the location of your car at the time you were radared to support your argument that he was unable to make a proper visual identification.

[Wayne Maybury]

Originally Posted by dcdoug

You should go back and take some pictures of his location and the construction equipment (if its still there) from the location of your car at the time you were radared to support your argument that he was unable to make a proper visual identification.

Doug, I was going to do just that but they moved everything around a few days later so I cannot even be sure where the police car was at the time of the incident. This is a highway construction zone where they are building a new interchange so the detour is constantly being changed as the work progresses.

By the way, I go through this area every week and I now go no more than 75kmh in the 70 zone. Trucks, cars, and/or buses go flying by me like I am standing still. I especially like the area where it goes down to one lane as I then slow down to 70. Within seconds I am the leader of a big, unhappy parade. There is no way that I am getting nailed there a second time.

Wayne

[Dan40]

I was in traffic court with/for my teenage son [speeding]. One offender tried to use the "ticket Book" to fight his citation. He said, "A telephone pole was clocked at 90 mph by radar." The judge said, "Were you driving a telephone pole?" He said a large rock was clocked at 75mph!" Judge, "Were you driving a rock?" "A TREE was clocked at 84mph!" I don't suppose you were driving a tree either?"

I'm thinking, "Give it up fella, he's is going to nail you. The guy changed his plea to "No contest," and the judge gave him a minimum fine.

[Wayne Maybury]

I drove through that 70 kmh construction zone yesterday afternoon at 80 to 85 kmh. Cars were going past me like I was standing still but I had a pretty good line behind me also.

Still no court date.

Wayne

[Wayne Maybury]

I finally received my court date. It is May 9, 2011 which will be 21 months after I was stopped. They seem to want to negotiate a settlement as they are giving me the opportunity to change my plea, but I am going to go for all or nothing. I will let you know how I make out May 9th or 10th.

Wayne

[VRM]

Wayne,
I would still get pics of where he was sitting, and try to get it at the same time of day, and in the same light conditions.

You were following other cars and being passed by the truck - sounds like at least a two lane road? How closely were you following the other cars - would you have ended up in their back seat if they were going the speed limit and you were speeding? And were you in the 'slow' lane behind the other cars?

What colour was the other truck, and what colour is your Explorer? Could the officer confuse the two, especially at the time of day you were pulled over? I would take a picture of your car from the front, and a dualie that is the same colour as the one that passed you, and shrink each to about 2cm square. This is what he might see in his mirror - and at the same time he is looking up to see what the speed display on the radar says.

I would also prepare a simple set of pictures - show the road with all lanes, show where you were, and where the cars in front of you were, and where the truck was, as well as where the cruiser was. The second pic should show the truck accelerating past you and pulling in front of you, and the last pic should show the cop pulling in behind you probably thinking you were the dualie, and the other cars in front of you.

What Trularin said about line-of-sight is very 'tru' - his line of sight is limited - possibly to just his mirror, and radar may be somewhat compromised also. It sounds like his car was pointed in the same direction you were traveling. Ask him where he parked his car, and how he was angled. Ask if he was hidden behind anything.

Ask him what he was doing while he waited for speeders to set off the alarm. If he says he was looking in the mirror the whole time, follow up with a question about him being sure he didn't answer radio calls, drink coffee, shift in his seat, or anything that may cause him to take his eyes away from the mirror for even a split-second.

70kph is around 65 feet per second - that is a fair bit of travel, but 115kph is around 105fps or so. Easy enough for a guy going that fast to pass you and pull in front of you in a couple of seconds.

You said you were cited for the speed limit in the construction zone - this is good. If you are asked if you were speeding you can truthfully say that you were slowing down to comply with the change in speed limit because of the construction, and this also helps back up anything about construction equipment being present.

Not sure what the rules are in Canada, but in the US I would send a registered letter to the officer requesting the serial number, model, and calibration info of the radar gun. It helps you if he does not provide it, and it may show him you are serious about pursuing this enough for him to drop it. Course, it could also piss him off.

Hope that helps. I fought a red light ticket recently (won it), but it still cost me $75 in hearing costs (in MA you do not get those costs back even if you win).

Steve

[SP01715]

I have never seen anyone win a radar ticket in court. As a matter of fact I have only seen a few people beat any type of ticket for a moving violation. Good luck...

It may be different in Canada though...