Why are radar detectors legal/illegal?

[Parasitic]

Not trying to start a flame war, but what are the arguments on both sides?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Varies by state. The reason against them is that it helps one break the law.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Varies by state. The reason against them is that it helps one break the law.

Oddly enough, that's also one of the reasons FOR them...

 

[MovingTarget]

On another side, there shouldn't be anything wrong with detecting the presence of signals on public airwaves.

 

[Drakkon]

Based on the 4th amendment the radar/laser the cop uses is barely within the boundary of "search" and they do it without a warrant. It is like a cop using a parabolic mic on a conversation - he cannot do so without a warrant and yet a cop is able to monitor you with a speed gun with no warrant whatsoever. Therefore you should be within your legal rights to have a radar/laser detector to know when cops are using this device to monitor your activity.

 

[Injury]

Because when you have one in your car you are more likely to speed. Avoiding tickets isn't their concern, it's that you drive at dangerous speeds without thinking twice with one.

 

[MovingTarget]

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Varies by state. The reason against them is that it helps one break the law.

Oddly enough, that's also one of the reasons FOR them...

This is true, but then again, people do have a vested interest in knowing where "speed traps" are when driving cross country. Some of them are so excessive that even state legislatures have started clamping down on them. There are a few towns where speeding tickets compromise over 50% of revenue for an entire town! Of course the purpose is revenue, not public safety. Goes both ways.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Based on the 4th amendment the radar/laser the cop uses is barely within the boundary of "search" and they do it without a warrant. It is like a cop using a parabolic mic on a conversation - he cannot do so without a warrant and yet a cop is able to monitor you with a speed gun with no warrant whatsoever. Therefore you should be within your legal rights to have a radar/laser detector to know when cops are using this device to monitor your activity.

It is not a search for a police officer to use a radar/laser gun and that's why it's legal in all 50 states in the US.

 

[videogames101]

actually, all they do is make enforcing the law more efficient, how you might say? Well, put it this way. . I'm going about 80 in a 65, and bam, i get pulled over for speeding. In this case, the cop got me and my detector went off, but as they only detect radar, it didn't help me break a law, i got pulled over anyways. So, one might say, well, you can get residue radar from cops hitting other cars, and this is perfectly true, BUT, lets look at how much of a problem this would really be. If i didn't have the radar detector, i'd be stopped. So If i slow down because i DID detect residue radar with a detector, well the cop has done his job. I've slowed down, and neither cop nor me has wasted any of our valuable time. Either way i slow down, but in reality, a radar detector helps law enforcement by saving them time. It enforces the law without having to pull the car over.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Varies by state. The reason against them is that it helps one break the law.

Oddly enough, that's also one of the reasons FOR them...

This is true, but then again, people do have a vested interest in knowing where "speed traps" are when driving cross country. Some of them are so excessive that even state legislatures have started clamping down on them. There are a few towns where speeding tickets compromise over 50% of revenue for an entire town! Of course the purpose is revenue, not public safety. Goes both ways.

But are those people breaking the law by speeding? Of course, they are speeding.

 

[Drakkon]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Based on the 4th amendment the radar/laser the cop uses is barely within the boundary of "search" and they do it without a warrant. It is like a cop using a parabolic mic on a conversation - he cannot do so without a warrant and yet a cop is able to monitor you with a speed gun with no warrant whatsoever. Therefore you should be within your legal rights to have a radar/laser detector to know when cops are using this device to monitor your activity.

It is not a search for a police officer to use a radar/laser gun and that's why it's legal in all 50 states in the US.

All other forms of electronic surveilance fall under the "search" subtext....why shouldn't a radar/laser gun?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Drakkon

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Based on the 4th amendment the radar/laser the cop uses is barely within the boundary of "search" and they do it without a warrant. It is like a cop using a parabolic mic on a conversation - he cannot do so without a warrant and yet a cop is able to monitor you with a speed gun with no warrant whatsoever. Therefore you should be within your legal rights to have a radar/laser detector to know when cops are using this device to monitor your activity.

It is not a search for a police officer to use a radar/laser gun and that's why it's legal in all 50 states in the US.

All other forms of electronic surveilance fall under the "search" subtext....why shouldn't a radar/laser gun?

Then why isn't illegal in any of the 50 states?

 

[Drakkon]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Drakkon

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Based on the 4th amendment the radar/laser the cop uses is barely within the boundary of "search" and they do it without a warrant. It is like a cop using a parabolic mic on a conversation - he cannot do so without a warrant and yet a cop is able to monitor you with a speed gun with no warrant whatsoever. Therefore you should be within your legal rights to have a radar/laser detector to know when cops are using this device to monitor your activity.

It is not a search for a police officer to use a radar/laser gun and that's why it's legal in all 50 states in the US.

All other forms of electronic surveilance fall under the "search" subtext....why shouldn't a radar/laser gun?

Then why isn't illegal in any of the 50 states?

Where am I saying anywhere that it should be illegal?
I don't think a radar/laser gun needs to be illegal- thats just silly. I'm just saying it is an electronic survelance device being used without a warrant that you should be able to monitor - thus a reason why detectors should be legal like the OP was asking for.

 

[Leros]

Do they work? I would love to get one, but I don't want to buy one to have it only detect 50% of radar.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Leros
Do they work? I would love to get one, but I don't want to buy one to have it only detect 50% of radar.

My 8500 saves me from tickets every single day.

Why are they legal/illegal? That opens a whole can of worms. I can't possibly see the reason for them being illegal and only know of a few states where they are.

 

[Parasitic]

So when I was in California because it was illegal to mount anything on the dash or glass with suction cups, I never noticed drivers with radar detectors.
Now that I'm in upstate NY it just seems to be a very common household device!

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Varies by state. The reason against them is that it helps one break the law.

For passenger cars it doesn't vary much ... they're legal in every state except VA & also in Washington DC.

Many states ban use in commercial vehicles over a certain weight.

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Varies by state. The reason against them is that it helps one break the law.

Oddly enough, that's also one of the reasons FOR them...

While over-simplified, this pretty much sums up both sides of the argument.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Leros
Do they work? I would love to get one, but I don't want to buy one to have it only detect 50% of radar.

My 8500 saves me from tickets every single day.

Why are they legal/illegal? That opens a whole can of worms. I can't possibly see the reason for them being illegal and only know of a few states where they are.

I would love to drive 75 - 80 on the highway. But troopers will pull you over for going 72 in a 70. Really annoying.

I do a 800 mile drive (400 each way) every three weeks and the extra bit of speed would get me to my destination in time to eat dinner with my family.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: videogames101
So If i slow down because i DID detect residue radar with a detector, well the cop has done his job. I've slowed down, and neither cop nor me has wasted any of our valuable time. Either way i slow down, but in reality, a radar detector helps law enforcement by saving them time. It enforces the law without having to pull the car over.

"His job" is not to get you to slow down briefly and then resume driving 80 miles an hour.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Aluvus

Originally posted by: videogames101
So If i slow down because i DID detect residue radar with a detector, well the cop has done his job. I've slowed down, and neither cop nor me has wasted any of our valuable time. Either way i slow down, but in reality, a radar detector helps law enforcement by saving them time. It enforces the law without having to pull the car over.

"His job" is not to get you to slow down briefly and then resume driving 80 miles an hour.

Actually it is. "His job" is to keep the roadways safe. If a patrolman is gunning somebody he's doing it to slow down traffic and ticket people. Normally this is because of accidents.

So Aluvus slowed down, probably slowing others down around him. Cop basically did his job without pulling anybody over.

win-win.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Is it that damn hard to just not speed? Just stay within a few MPH of the speed limit all the time and you'll never even need a radar detector.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Aluvus

Originally posted by: videogames101
So If i slow down because i DID detect residue radar with a detector, well the cop has done his job. I've slowed down, and neither cop nor me has wasted any of our valuable time. Either way i slow down, but in reality, a radar detector helps law enforcement by saving them time. It enforces the law without having to pull the car over.

"His job" is not to get you to slow down briefly and then resume driving 80 miles an hour.

Actually it is. "His job" is to keep the roadways safe. If a patrolman is gunning somebody he's doing it to slow down traffic and ticket people. Normally this is because of accidents.

So Aluvus slowed down, probably slowing others down around him. Cop basically did his job without pulling anybody over.

win-win.

So once you feel that you're safely out of his range and resume autobahn speeds you're not violating the law? The cop made the roads safer for a stretch of a few miles and that's certainly better than none at all, but the point is that you should be driving the speed limit anyway.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Aluvus

Originally posted by: videogames101
So If i slow down because i DID detect residue radar with a detector, well the cop has done his job. I've slowed down, and neither cop nor me has wasted any of our valuable time. Either way i slow down, but in reality, a radar detector helps law enforcement by saving them time. It enforces the law without having to pull the car over.

"His job" is not to get you to slow down briefly and then resume driving 80 miles an hour.

Correct ... the job of a radar-enforcement unit is to bring in revenue for the town/state that pays his salery.

If the goal was really to control the speed people drove, there are MUCH more effective methods of going about it which don't involve issuing citations, however they don't help finance the annual budget.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Leros
Do they work? I would love to get one, but I don't want to buy one to have it only detect 50% of radar.

My 8500 saves me from tickets every single day.

Why are they legal/illegal? That opens a whole can of worms. I can't possibly see the reason for them being illegal and only know of a few states where they are.

So if you didn't have it, you'd be getting tickets every single day? Must be a ton of asshole cops out there in KY. I speed every day, often right past cops. :Q As long as you're not speeding excessively or doing something to bring attention to yourself like frequent and/or abrupt lane changes, tailgating, etc, most cops around here won't bother stopping you.

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: videogames101
actually, all they do is make enforcing the law more efficient, how you might say? Well, put it this way. . I'm going about 80 in a 65, and bam, i get pulled over for speeding. In this case, the cop got me and my detector went off, but as they only detect radar, it didn't help me break a law, i got pulled over anyways. So, one might say, well, you can get residue radar from cops hitting other cars, and this is perfectly true, BUT, lets look at how much of a problem this would really be. If i didn't have the radar detector, i'd be stopped. So If i slow down because i DID detect residue radar with a detector, well the cop has done his job. I've slowed down, and neither cop nor me has wasted any of our valuable time. Either way i slow down, but in reality, a radar detector helps law enforcement by saving them time. It enforces the law without having to pull the car over.

What in your scenario pays for the small town police departments' monthly kegger?