chas@ihuxe.UUCP (Charles Lambert) (08/14/85)
[ Excerpt from the "Radar Surveillance" discussion ] > ... He stopped me for doing 67 > when I was doing 55 mph. I had my cruise on and was on a flat stretch of the > road. Naturally I was pretty upset about the whole thing but decided my speed- > ometer was out of sync and had it checked for $25. The guy told me it would > be one mph off at speeds around *80* mph. I now live 200 miles from where the > ticket was written and didn't have the vacation time or real belief that I > could beat this so paid the fine and forgot it. > > ... Last friday I got stopped for doing 52 in a 35. Radar again. I > absolutely know I wasn't going over 40. Radar guns are used in Britain and, several years ago, there was an important test case concerning their incorrect use by police officers. A driver was pulled up by a police car, shortly after going over the brow of a hill. An officer standing by the road with a radar gun had registered his speed as being over the limit. The driver in question was certain that he had been within the limit so he challenged the charge in court. No luck, he was fined. The guy happened to be an Electronic Engineer and determined to prove that the radar gave a false reading. At the time of his alleged offence, he remembered another car travelling in the opposite direction at high speed. Through a series of tests, conducted with several models of radar gun, he demonstrated that the signal reflected from the front of a target car can strike a car travelling in the opposite direction, return by way of the target car and still be strong enough to give a false reading. Depending on the speed-detection method used by the device, the reading can be either the speed of the secondary vehicle or even the combined speed of both vehicles. False readings can also be produced by reflection from large signboards (such as freeway route signs) onto secondary vehicles. Using this evidence he successfully appealed his conviction, which was quashed for unreliable evidence. Consequently, codes of practice have been introduced that constrain the circumstances in which a radar gun should be used (no large standing objects; no adjacent vehicles; etc.) and the credibility of their evidence severely undermined. Charlie (the Alien) @ the Death Star, IL.
ccs009@ucdavis.UUCP (Dennis Michaels) (08/27/85)
> > False readings can also be produced by reflection from large signboards > (such as freeway route signs) onto secondary vehicles. > > Using this evidence he successfully appealed his conviction, which was > quashed for unreliable evidence. Consequently, codes of practice have been > introduced that constrain the circumstances in which a radar gun should be > used (no large standing objects; no adjacent vehicles; etc.) and the > credibility of their evidence severely undermined. > > Charlie (the Alien) @ the Death Star, IL. One additional note, somewhere I believe it was C and D or RandT, that the legal bracket for radar accuracy was +/- 7 mph, so if you contest the charge and you're within that range, there is a good chance that you'll beat it ....... that means if your alleged radar speed is from: 25-32 in a 25 zone 35-42 in a 35 zone ......... A small bracket of safety, also a friend of mine also had his speedo checked and certified by a mechanic BEFORE he went in to court ( his ticket was for 44 in a 35 ) and he won his case so if your sure, its worth your insurance premiums to fight it if you know your right.