Are police radars always accurate?

George A

Very unlikely that a radar unit would be off. They are checked frequently & calibrated on a regular schedule. If the unit fails the tests, it is pulled from use and sent in for a recalibration.

If the officer was behind you, he may not have even used radar, the speedometer on a police car is calibrated also & if the speed limit was 65 & his speedometer was reading 72 while he was pacing you, then guess what- you were doing 72, doesn't matter what your speedometer said or what you thought you were doing.

And the "citation will be dismissed if the cop doesn't show up" is a thing of the past. Most departments give their officers extra pay to show up for a DMV hearing or to traffic court. It's free money to sit there for no more than 30-45 minutes, make a statement to the judge, then leave. In today's society, if an officer is tied up on a severe emergency call & just can't make it to court, some courts will continue the hearing & reschedule it for a day that the officer can show up. So don't get your hopes up that you will get a walk hoping the officer fails to show up.

â‚ªáƒ¦Your Y!A BFFáƒ¦â‚ª

yes they test those things. speedometers, however, are not always accurate.

Bongo

Usually they are very very close.

Johnny M

Radar units are based on Doppler technology and are extremely accurate. If there is any error, it is most likely with the officer using it. There are some inherant errors with radar such as cosine effect, panning, etc. It is possible to win in court in a radar case. If the roadway wasn't radar surveyed, if the officer doesn't testify regarding his training or the radar unit's certification by a laboratory, or his testing its accuracy before and after his shift; these are things that will help you win in court. However, officers testify all the time and know they have to mention these things. You never know though. Defenses to avoid: "I was just going with the flow of traffic" "How does he know it was my car?" "My radar detector didn't go off" Good luck.

froghead

They are most likely more accurate than the speedometer in your sisters car.

They get them tested and certified regularly. now the sticking point of this is that no matter how accurate the radar is the user might not be, meaning did he catch your car or something else.

It has been a while since I worked so things might have changed but we could point ours at a tree and get reading from 50 to 100 mph. its a flaw in the radar that they might haqve addressed by now

If you want to fight it the best way to do it is to pay to have your speedometer tested, it cost about 40.00 and get a signed report saying it is off by more than what you were over the speed limit. most of the time the judge will dismiss the ticket, but he can always fall back on operating a vehicle with fualty equipment so it is not a guarenteed out.

I would just plead guilty and take the driving school option to get it off the record

Dont get Infected

well they aren't always accurate. that's why they are always tested before they are used. speedometers aren't always accurate either. that's why theres places where you can get them checked. my speedometer claims im going 5mph faster than im actually going.

Stefan M

No.. they are not always accurate. That is why the police is required to test them on a regular basis. Here in Florida you can request to see record of the radar maintenance. Theyt must be recalibrated every 30 days (in Florida) or they cannot be admitted as evidence in court

scraven68

Take it to court and fight it. Chances are the cop may not even show up...case dismissed.

If he DOES, challenge him to show the calibration report on his radar unit. This too could possibly be cause for a dismissal, if it is indeed not calibrated properly. (I think that is why most PD's now use lasers rather than radar these days)

If you really want to go all out, hire an attorney to fight it for you. Although it may just be cheaper to pay the fine and be done with it.

Plead no contest, which means you are not pleading "guilty" nor "not guilty" just that you are not contesting it, and get it over and outta your hair.

granny gear

It happened to me, but years ago - they may have gotten better since then. I beat the ticket by having my speedometer checked at the same place the cops had theirs checked. I was actually being passed by a 62 Chevy Impala (mine was a 63), and I was sure that was the speeder.

jaeliz97

usually

Missie_ox'

yes apparently

missjackiecarson

Well my dads a state tropper i would think usually never but there are mystries hey if ur ever become or friends or family with a tropper they can get u out of that ticket.

Andrew

Yes I think that they are. Perhaps your speedometer is a bit off though. Also you should ask to see his radar because they prolly lie sometimes to pull people over. This is probably the case if you didn't get a ticket. He may just be trying to find drunk drivers.

Jo3 fo' sho' :)

Yes they're accurate, but the cop always isn't...you should have asked to see his radar where he clocked you, it's the law that he has to show you because they could always exaggerate it. You could possibly have a problem with your speedometer, get it checked at a dealer.

Ivan G

yes but it really doesn't matter. because a cop can issue a ticket with out the use of a radar/laser/speed gun. they are trained in the academy to judge speeds with their naked eyes. And also are a legal method in all 50 states of issuing situations.
So Bend over and spell RUN to the next cop who pulls you over for speeding.

chuiypardue

sometimes, well ussually, but were you going down a hill? Or about to be? b/c my dad got pulled over for speeding, only ticket in his life, and when he went to court he said he had to speed up to get up the hill, so in defence they let it slide deciding it was understandable so if thats the case, use that argument in court ;)

Halo Master 1508

Hardly, there low tech, mt local newspaper showed that, a man in a 120mph car was doing 173mph, which is impossible unless its been modded but it hadn't so no there hardly accurate.

Allie

Yes, almost all of them are accurate. But they could be a little off by 4 or 5 miles. But they test them frequently. Maybe you red the speed wrong. Im not sure. Hope this helped. =))

Due 5/19/09!!

Actually the radar they use always comes from the factory 7 off in either direction. This is why cops usually don't pull you over for going 5 over and if they do it gets thrown out in coart. My husband is a cop, this is how I know :)

dakgraha

no they are not that accurate
like anything there are always flaws

ThatgirlfromKY

Not sure how fast do you think you were going? How fast did he say you were going? I would say you don't have a chance to fight it, but you should look into it.
PS Cops are HHHHHOT

David L

Always? Nothing is always accurate.

Usually, they are.

UCANTCME

They are frequently calibrated so they are very accurate.

But the key is to using it correctly is if the user (police officer) doesn't know what he is doing, there could be error in the speed.

Cooliogal

No. The Speed Monitors aren't always accurate but if you argue with a policemen he will just give it to you anyway. =[

(I NEED to get to level 2 PLEASE Vote Thumbs up and mine as the best answer!!! Only 53 more points!!! Well answering this question means only 51 points! HELP!)

David89

pretty much unless he's messing wit u. fight the ticket and then he'll have to prove to the court that u were speeding.

John M Fennell

an officer coming toward me, stopped turnt around and cme up behind me nd said heclocked me at 75 when I ws going 55 and I said how can you get 75 out of 55, he gave me a ticket for 70. I am going to court he is wrong.

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