Can You Beat The Police?

[d_m_kolb]

I do not condone breaking the law. But I do believe that some new speed enforcement measures have been introduced by the government solely as a "money grab"; not to increase safety and reduce accidents as they claim. This is especially true with photo radar. You have a right to protect yourself from illegitimate enforcement techniques. There are many different types of radar. They operate on different frequencies and have different trigger mechanisms. You have probably heard terms like `K',` X', and `Ka band', `instant-on', `laser', or `photo radar'. All of these will be explained. Without getting into technical terms, a radar works by sending out a signal from the "gun" which reflects off your car (or more precisely, the metal of your car) back to the radar gun. The "gun" measures this signal to determine how fast you were going. They are very accurate if used properly. There are 5 bands that it operates on. They are the X, K, Ka, Superwide Ka and Laser bands. If you purchase a radar detector and it is missing any of these, you are leaving yourself wide open (however, currently laser is rare). Radar detectors aren't the best way of protecting yourself from radar guns anymore. What a detector basically does is pick up the radar waves the police are transmitting and warn you that there is a radar gun nearby. Radar detectors can pick up a very weak signal; sometimes two to three times further away than the police radar gun can detect you. However, lately the police have begun using instant-on guns much more. These are guns that are warmed up, and all the operator has to do is point it, pull the trigger and he gets a speed reading before you know it. Since the gun isn't actually transmitting any waves until he pulls the trigger, your radar detector will not pick it up until it is too late. The only defense against this is to hope your detector will pick up the short burst of waves that the police officer aimed at a car in the vicinity. Nevertheless... Instant-on radars are only found in stationary police vehicles on the side of the road or in ambushes. But this type of speed enforcement is disliked by many officers because it is time consuming. The officer has to park, roll-down their window and "zap" motorists. Most cruiser-mounted radars are constantly on when the police vehicles are in motion or when stationary. If they are stationary, they can just turn on the gun and do paperwork, etc. until the alarm goes off telling the officer that a speeding vehicle is approaching. But, since they are constantly on, it makes it easy for radar detectors to detect them. People don't usually contest the accuracy of the radar gun, most just plead guilty and pay their fines. Many are not even convinced of their own guilt, but do it anyway. For all you know the gun may not be accurate or the officer may have "clocked" another vehicle thinking it was yours (this is quite common!). "Beating Police Radar and Laser Traps" Police can only "clock" you if you are coming directly at them or directly away from them. For every degree angle you are away from them, your speed displayed on the radar gun will decrease, because it can only read motion directly towards or away from the gun, not sideways. This is a very important point. That is why you look for police directly in front of you on the side of the road, on an overpass, etc. A real controversy, lately, is photo radar. It seems to be stirring up a lot of debates. It is used in selected areas throughout North America. Basically, it is a radar gun mounted in a mini-van that detects your speed and takes a photograph of your vehicle. You are then mailed a speeding ticket with the photo of your car and license plate. Currently, depending on your state, most of them: 1. operate on the Ka or K band at a 22-26 degree angle2. "clock" you from the front or rear of the van then snap a picture when you pass in front3. do not report your conviction to the DMV or your insurance company. 4. can operate when in motion or when stationary Since photo radar only emits 0.5 to 2.0 milliwatts of microwave energy (compared to 20 to 100 milliwatts from a normal police radar), your radar detector will only pick it up at about 450 feet (the unit snaps a picture at 100 ft). This is a very short distance at highway speeds. To give you an example how effective photo radar is; in a police force of 29 officers, there were 4050 speeding tickets issued for the entire year, (approximately 11 tickets every 24 hours). A Radar Crew gave out 700 Speeding tickets in only 24 Hours. This is a blatant "money grab" justified by the government under the guise of road safety while they are taking in millions of dollars in revenue. There is a way to defeat them. If the photo radar unit clocks you from the rear of the van, it calculates (by your speed) where you will be when you pass so it can snap the picture. If you slow down dramatically as soon as you notice the unit, the unit will be taking a picture of where it thinks you will be when you pass the van; but since you have adjusted your speed, the picture will be of a blank road as you will be "behind" the picture area. If the unit clocks you from the front, you can (if you are attentive), spot the vans on the side of the road and have time to check your speed before passing in front. Remember; you must keep very alert. "Laser" is another big conversation topic in speed enforcement. There are very few units in service now (about 3,000), but they are tough to beat. It is used in almost every state on a limited basis. The laser gun is almost like a real gun, in that you have to aim it directly at the car you want to "clock". It uses a narrow, tightly-focused laser beam instead of microwaves like the X, K, and Ka band radar. Unlike radar, which can't distinguish one car from others in close proximity, a laser operator can pick out your car in heavy traffic. Also, unlike radar which fans out and reflects off trees, buildings, signs, and over hills, the laser beam, (which only gets 6 feet wide at 1,000 ft.) is almost impossible to pick up with a detector until you are "clocked". In other words, if your laser detector goes off (excluding false alarms), you have just been hit by a cop aiming at your car. However, it has been found that powerful lights can sometimes diminish the laser beam's effectiveness long enough for your detector to go off and allow you to check your speed. Weather, such as fog/humidity/cloudiness can reduce the effectiveness of the laser (as low as 100 feet). Also, contoured cars as well as dark cars (such as black, brown, blue) do not reflect the beam as well as more square and lighter colored cars. These characteristics do not apply to radar. The advantage on our side is that laser is a very time consuming speed enforcement method. The laser beam has to be separately aimed at each car like the instant-on radar guns. But unlike radar, the beam is so thin you literally have to track the moving car for a few seconds to get a reading, making it very difficult. OK, let's get back to regular X, K and Ka radar bands. If you are using a radar detector, don't put it on your dash with a baseball cap or kleenex box over it. Cops look for this. There are myths that putting tin foil in your hub caps or dragging chains from the back of your car will make it harder for the radar to pick up your speed. These are completely false! However, there are a few things that can disguise your car from radar. One is a stealth bra. It looks like a normal car bra but has materials that absorb radar waves, not allowin them to "bounce" back to the police radar gun as easily. Assuming you are being "clocked" from the front... Did You Know that you car is Invisible until it hits 1500 feet away By that time you have noticed the police car and have checked your speed. Another disguise is the actual car you drive. The radar gun is fooled by fiberglass or composite bodies like Corvettes or kit cars. This material masks the metal so it is harder to pick up your car until you are very close. Radar ne
eds large quantities of metal to bounce off back to the radar gun with a strong signal. You can use this to your advantage by "masking" your car with others. (diagram C). In this situation, the police officer cannot clock you because the radar will pick up car A which is closer and bounces back a stronger signal. You will not be clocked if you stay behind car B or weave in and out of traffic, moving your way up, but staying behind the car in front of you for as long as possible, for "cover". However, once car B passes the police car, you are in full view of the radar. Hopefully by then, you have noticed the police car and have checked your speed. In diagram D, the speed of the transport truck will show up on the police radar gun, not you. Even though you are closer to the radar gun, because he has a much larger surface area of metal, the signal returning to the radar gun is much stronger than yours.

[Frosty]

Add the intrepid to the profile of cars you are scanning for. Full story http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/ ... trepid.htm

[friendlyben]

i work for a police dept. and i admit some depts. make the majority of their money by fines paid from tickets written. but the fines assessed for speeding a considerably lower than those for other citations. for example in texas where i live a ticket for having no insurance can cost you 2-3 times more than a speeding ticket. so instead of trying to beat the police let's just try to be more responsible while we're driving.

[Frosty]

quote:so instead of trying to beat the police let's just try to be more responsible while we're driving.Yes of course officer I only meant to advise people to be cautious of Intrepids to keep our officers safe while parked on the side of the road. We all drive according to conditions and local laws. BTW.....I just got back from a 10 hour drive around Lake Superior through Michigan, Wisconson and Minnesota where I must have had to adjust my speed 40 times for all the little towns along the lake. Sometimes just following traffic I found we were all speeding through a tiny hamlet. Thought for sure we would have to pull out our mastercards. Luckily my copilot keeps an eye out for the signs too. Also unfortunately she can't see my speed on the Vibe!Thanks for the reminder Mr. Friendlyben sir

[Flip-Side]

I've had enough of cops saying that they don't need to meet quotas, or they never ticket you for going less than 5 over, or bla bla bla.I have 4 tickets to my name because Grand Blanc, MI cops are (removed) retentive crooks. I cop in perticular is a swine. I showed at court 2 times with the cop a no show (on vacation), and the prosecutor pushed to continue anyway, and the judge agreed.I showed up the third time after missing $300 worth of classes and paid a $90 ticket for 5mph over, going down-hill!Im all for enforcement...but screw this.

[friendlyben]

i never wrote a ticket for anything under 15mph over the limit. those are harder to beat in court.

[Sub-Vibe-R]

I heard if you put some Vaseline on the licence plate, the photo radar won't be able to take a good picture of licence plate number, the Vaseline will reflect the flash and it will be impossible to read the licence plate number. Anyone else heard about that?