Radar detectors to be made legal?

[Nate]

I caught this in the paper the other day, and thought it was interesting.

Virginia Delegate Joe T. May, (R-Leesburg) is working to repeal the state's law making it a crime to possess a radar detector in an automobile. Earlier this month May introduced HB 1120 which would eliminate the $96 ticket police currently issue to those caught with the device -- whether it was in use or not.

Virginia statistics say 30 percent of crashes are caused by excessive speed. And a 1999 National Highway Transportation Safety Administration survey of studies, with plenty of statistics, summarized: "Drivers who use radar detectors drive faster and are less safe than drivers who don't use them."

For those who didn't know, Virginia is the only state (along with Washington, D.C.) in which radar detectors are illegal.

My thoughts: This ban should not pass. As far as I'm concerned, the only purpose of a radar detector is to allow people to speed. Now, I'm not gonna pretend I'm perfect and never speed, because I do, but I usually keep it within 10 mph above the limit. With this ban repealed, there's a lot less to keep someone from flying down a 55 mph highway at 90-100. Speeding is one of the main causes of injury and deaths in the US. Heck, my next door neighbor was actually killed because he was speeding on the road we live on.

I think it's absolutely ludicrous that they want to encourage lawbreaking like this. I see no purpose to this bill, other than allowing people to endanger the lives of themselves and others, and we don't need that. Though, apparently one of the bill's supporters (Delegate Joe T. May) owns a technology firm. Hmm...

[Steeltemplar]

Though, apparently one of the bill's supporters (Delegate Joe T. May) owns a technology firm. Hmm...

I suppose we should be careful not to make this a "political debate". However, I'd like to ask: How much money could he possibly stand to make from the increased sale of radar detectors in just the state of Virginia?

[Nate]

I suppose we should be careful not to make this a "political debate". However, I'd like to ask: How much money could he possibly stand to make from the increased sale of radar detectors in just the state of Virginia?

Ah, my apologies, I didn't mean to take it in that direction.

To answer your question, I really don't know, although I can't for the life of me imagine any other reason he would have for wanting to pass a bill that so blatantly endangers the lives of people on the road.

[Mithrandir]

You might want to point out that this HB1120 is an anti-terrorism bill. If that's in there, it may be "slipped in" instead.

http://legis.state.va.us/codecomm/digest/2002/dig20a26.htm

[Stephen]

I am pretty sure most states consider radar detectors a grey area of the law. Since the object itself is legal to buy....just illegal to use for what most use it for. I have had friends have them, get pulled over...and the cops ignore it.

[Arnobius]

In CA they can be bought openly in stores, and I have seen them in Best Buy. I think a couple of counties it is not legal to sell them.

[shooraijin]

I toyed with getting one after I got my one (and so far only) speeding ticket. Then I figured, I'd probably do better if I just didn't speed in the first place -- and the gas mileage gains I'm getting are worth it. (35mpg last week! w00t!)

[Arnobius]

I toyed with getting one after I got my one (and so far only) speeding ticket. Then I figured, I'd probably do better if I just didn't speed in the first place -- and the gas mileage gains I'm getting are worth it. (35mpg last week! w00t!)

Having a 70mph speed limit pretty much kills my need to speed, though on long stretches of highway, it has crept up to 80

[uc pseudonym]

I have a number of friends who were former police officers. They say that radar detectors aren't very effective and I see their reasoning. It isn't as if they are constantly throwing electromagentic waves around them; most officers use their radar for the second necessary to get the speed of a specific car. I've seen informal tests where this barely even registers on a radar detector.

[TurkishMonky]

yes, one of my friends owns a radar detector just for the added feeling of security after he got his first and only speeding ticket, but he says it doesn't really help that much, since it goes off on some weird things, and doesn't always register police...

[shooraijin]

Well, instant-on is hard to detect until they're right on top of you, and lidar -- forget it. Unless the laser beam bounces into the detector window, you have no chance.

On busy roads you have the best luck with radar detectors because they'll be tagging other people with it and the detector will pick it up. On the other hand, people will also have seen the cop car and will start slowing traffic down, so you don't really need it.

Where you really could use it is on rural roads, but unless your detector has a large range, you won't see the cop tagging people further on until it's your turn (and if the road is abandoned ...)

Eventually most police departments will be using instant-on and lidar anyway, and no radar detector can reliably detect either one.

[agasfas]

Since I have a history of speeding I figured I would get a radar dector- so I did during the summer. It had pop-protection (guns that instantly turn off and on so older radar detectors can't detect them) and all that hi-tech junk. It works well, but the false alarms are so annoying. Probably not the best investment...

My thoughts: This ban should not pass. As far as I'm concerned, the only purpose of a radar detector is to allow people to speed.

I found the radar dector help me keep with in the speed limit. Kind of like a positive re-enforcer. I set the alarm so it would go off randomly, so if I was speeding I would correct that. After about 2 months of having one, I ended up taking it out because I for the most part correcteing my bad habbit. Though I do agree to an extent that more people use them so they can speed.

[Mave]

Say, how does a radar detector help you keep in the speed limit on a regular basis? In simple terms (as I understand it), I thought the sole purpose of it is to detect the presence of police. My friends's detectors only beep at occasional moments and that's the -only time- they slow down and adher to the speed limit. (-__-);; I'm not sure how well it works coz my friends still get numerous speeding tickets.

I haven't had the need for one. I'm among the slow ones who stick to the right lane. Hehehe.