Cop Stop! What to do:

[Tee]

If you disagree with my post, then let's hear what was incorrect. My post cronicles what I have seen or witnessed in my dealings, not what happens in every case. But if you are just pissed about me dragging you into court then I am so sorry to bother you Officer K. Is it true that you were also speeding when you locked in the radar? Yes or NO? I must not be that stupid, I ultimately got the charge dismissed, didnt I? GEEEZ Let it go!! I have!

[justme]

i am not officer k. and you surely dont think you know more than him..you definately would not make a good lawyer.... some of the things you said in court were absolutely hilarious.. I am not sure how you ultimately got out of it but it sure wasn't because you were right... you rolled the dice and ultimatley won, and surely cost you more than the original ticket.... and you will be caught again,,,you seem to be one of the people who step in a pile of you know what every time you walk in a pasture.... ive read your posts about how your rights have been violated and you are a friend of law enforcement.. you do a very good job of talking out of both sides of your mouth... and by the way i have the very same rights as you to voice my opinion..if you dont like it dont reply.....

[Tee]

Originally Posted by justme

and by the way i have the very same rights as you to voice my opinion..

You sure do! And so do I. Again, my post chronicled my experiences.

[lurker]

I've never seen a person die waiting at a red light, but I'm sure several have died when someone tries to beat (or blow through) a light.

What I don't like: Traffic fines have become anticipated revenue for various gummit bureaucracies. Aren't traffic regulations supposed to be for "public safety" with a punishment for driving without regard for others safety? Nope. Not no more. It's all about money now.

[TexKan]

I didn't realize DC had "quotas" Do they? They used to have them everywhere in Tx. The lawyers pretty much put a stop to that. I remember a little ( and I mean little) town that got hauled into court for having a speed trap - I haven't heard of anymore quota towns since. They got tore up in court. I'm sure quotas are stillaround, but they call it something else maybe. I know Texas City has no quotas and Friendswood just has "suggested" tickets per month - but there are NO speeding traps that's for sure. Radars are legal here but hell everyone speeds around here - probably to "make up" for all our morning traffic jams LOL. Ya just try to roll with the "flow" of traffic and not be first or second in the pack...LOL

[Made in the USA]

In Kansas, the "hypo" code is:

If the vehicle is moving at 75 mph---you have to have the lights flashing!

If the vehicle is moving at 85 mph---you have to have the lights flashing and the siren on!

If the vehicle is moving faster than 90 mph---you have to escorted by a "bull hauler"!!

[NoLongerInRadioGuy]

Originally Posted by Tee

Further, cops will usually write a higher amount on the ticket than what is locked into the radar. Most officers will try and explain this by a momentary rise in speed on your part but this can also be contributed to other vehicles and interference. Having evidence that contradicts the officers testimoney as to your speed can also help your case.

In three years, I have written many many many speeding tickets and have NEVER ONCE written a ticket to someone for going a speed of anything other than I saw on my radar or lidar. So, when I see someone say "usually", and I have never done it once and dont know of any fellow officers that have, I really have to dispute that observation. Maybe the highest speed we saw on the radar is not what gets locked in, but we will all testify under oath what the unit showed us.

And, by the way, there are no such thing as quotas for tickets in law enforcement anywhere - they were declared to be illegal quite a while back. Now, we can write as many as we want to....

[Tee]

Originally Posted by NoLongerInRadioGuy

NEVER ONCE written a ticket to someone for going a speed of anything other than I saw on my radar or lidar.

Noticed you said "saw" and not "locked"

Maybe you didn't understand my post....That is exactly what I said- You guys tend to write the ticket, not for what was locked on the display, but for a momentary spike that you "saw", right? Fact is, those spikes can be attributed to other causes. I may not be an expert in police radar from a patrolmans point of view, but I am an expert in electronics and know quite a bit about doppler theory. Lets do a little radar 101, and you tell me if you disagree with any of this:

Basic representation. Most newer units (Stalker II) used in
our area are stationary (mounted in vehicle) of the patrol car.

A radar works by shooting radio waves, usually in the X, K or Ka band towards traffic in a large V-pattern, usually 11-24 degrees right to left. A portion of the waves reflect back to the patrol car and the space between the waves are measured for variances (doppler shift).

A tighter wavelength indicates an object moving towards the radar gun, a wider wave length indicates an object moving away from the radar gun. Likewise, the amount of the doppler shift *minus* the speed of the police car= the speed of the target vehicle.

Lidar uses a laser which is not susceptable to this large radar swath, they use a very small pinpoint pattern, similar to a pen laser would use. However they are not widely used in Western Kansas. You will see them in Wichita, though.

There are several factors that can contribute to inaccuracy of a doppler rader.
The angle of the radar gun in relationship to the target can affect accuracy. This is called the "cosine effect", because the measured speed is directly related to the cosine of the angle between the radar and target direction of travel.

Other factors include ground clutter, also known as ground echo, and most importantly, multiple targets. Beam width is probably the most notable reason for false readings. Even the narrowest of radar beams - 11 degrees - is 38 feet wide when 200 feet down the road and 57 feet wide at 300 feet away. Some radar units transmit a beam as wide as 24 degrees. By the time a radar beam is several hundred feet from a patrol car, the microwaves are blanketing an area as wide as an expressway. Unless you are alone in entire beams pattern, there is no way that a radar operator can conclusively discern your vehicle as the one on his target readout.

Even though police radar is based on the Doppler Principle, most units do not interpret the Doppler shift itself. Rather, they process the frequency of the signal and use its analog to represent target speeds. Known as phase-lock loop, or PPL, this processing can lock onto the wrong target, double or triple low speed readings, or produce "ghost" readings.

When the International Assoc of Cheif's of Police tested 24 police radar models, they found that the results showed that nearly all of the units were affected by temperature variations, five had failed accuracy tests, four had unacceptably wide beam patterns and three tended to provide inaccurate readings due to nearby police or CB radio signals.

Radio or Microwave Interference can come in a variety of forms, both natural and man-made, but they have one thing in common - they produce a false or incorrect reading on the radar unit's display. Common sources of electromagnetic interference include airport radar; microwave transmissions; transmissions of CB, ham, VHF/UHF, and cellular two-way radio/ telephones, including police and business radios; faulty sparkplug wires; mercury vapor and neon lights; high-tension powerlines; and high voltage power substations. The radio energy from these sources can overload or confuse the sensitive circuits in a radar gun.

Mechanical Interference is any moving object, other than the target vehicle, that can produce a false or incorrect radar reading. The most common sources are vibrating or rotating signs near the roadway; fan blades moving inside or outside the patrol car (air conditioner, heater, defroster or engine fan); another moving vehicle that reflects radar waves better than the target vehicle; and multiple targets in the main radar beam causing multiple reflections of nearly equal strength and making the display read, high, low, or completely blank.

Even under the very best of circumstances, and proper use and interpretation by it's operator, the very best police radar systems are listed by their own manufacturers to have an accuracy of 1-3% in stationary mode and 3-5% in moving mode. So despite what an oficer tells you, their radar systems are not infallable.

[TexKan]

Oh Tee - I know I'm a "goodie goodie" but gee is it THAT important to be FIRST in the pack??? I mean no disrespect but gee whiz - don't you spend more money on a nice steak dinner and an evening out than you would a lousy speeding ticket?? I'd much rather take my time and enjoy the food and entertainment than to have to give it to the court. Besides if ya just slow down some you can live long enough to get to the dinner. Just slow down and enjoy the scenery. Don't get so bent about your right to speed. It is still a matter of "choice" not "right"

[Army_of_One]

I donate yearly to the FOP and get the stickers. I have heard that if you put this sticker on your car window you "might" have a better chance of receiving a warning as opposed to getting a ticket. Before I go putting stickers on my Mustang I would like to know if there is any truth in this or not. I have "on occasion" breached the local speed limits although I try to keep it down.