MYTHBUSTERS BUSTED ALL OF THE DIFFERENT WAYS TO BEAT THE RADAR GUN.

BASICALLY, EVEN IF THE COP RADARED ANOTHER VEHICLE, HE'S GOING TO TESTIFY THAT IT WAS YOU AND THERE IS NO WAY TO PROVE HIM WRONG. ONCE HE PULLS YOU OVER AND WRITES THAT TICKET, YOU'RE SCREWED.

SO.... WHAT CAN YOU DO? WELL, BUY A RADAR DETECTOR AND DON'T SPEED!!

Everyone knows radar gun is used to detect the speed of objects. Police use it to check automobiles for speed. It is also used to check the speed of objects in sports. Weather uses radar to track storms, rain, and hurricanes.

A radar gun is a small Doppler radar unit. A doppler radar is a radar that uses the doppler effect of the returned echoes from targets to measure their radial velocity. Radar guns are basically transmitters and receivers. They send out a radio signal, then receive the signal back as it bounces off of targeted objects. The radar frequency is different when it returns, and from the difference in frequency, it can calculate speed.

A radar gun relies on the Doppler Effect applied to a radar beam to measure the speed of objects at which it is pointed. Radar guns can be hand-held or mounted. Police like to use hand-held radar guns on bridges and overpasses to catch speeders. One officer will sit on the overpass radaring vehicles while a second officer waits on the road usually on an on-ramp waiting for the officer on the overpass to radio him with the offending vehicle's information. Radar guns operate on several bands. X, K, Ka, IR Band (infrared), and Ku bands (Europe). Another technology, LIDAR or LASER, uses pulsed laser light.

The radar gun was invented by Bryce K. Brown of Decatur Electronics in March 1954. Dale Smith invented
the first radar detector, the "Fuzz buster". A radar detector detector is a device used by police to detect radar detectors in places where they are illegal. Currently, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and military property are the only places banning radar detector use in cars. The U.S. Department of Transportation banned radar detector use in all commercial vehicles in all states, CFR 49, parts 392, 392.71 in February of 1995. This was a major blow to the radar detector companies who relied heavily on truckers to buy their products.

All bands of radar work the differently; they operate on different frequencies, they are very complicated. X band guns are becoming less common due to the fact the beam is strong and easily detectable. Also, most automatic doors utilize radio waves on X band and can possibly affect the readings of police radar. As a result K band and Ka band are most commonly used by police agencies.

Stationary radar is mounted in law enforcement vehicles. These are used when the vehicle is stationary. Moving radar is employed when the law enforcement vehicle is in motion. These radar devices are extremely sophisticated and able to track vehicles approaching and leaving both in front of and behind the patrol vehicle. Today's technology is relatively effective and error free.

Law enforcement officers are trained in visual estimation of speed and distance, and the radar equipment is used as a verification of the visual estimation. For example, it is easy to testify that the vehicle in the far lane was passing vehicles in the near lane, and therefore the vehicle whose speed is showing on the radar was the vehicle who was passing the other vehicle.

However, radar cannot determine which vehicle the waves reflected off of. If there are multiple cars traveling in a close proximity, it would be hard to determine with certainty which car was responsible for the resulting radar reading. The width of the radar beam can usually cover all lanes of traffic and sometimes all lanes in both directions, causing an enormous amount of error in determining which car is responsible for the radar reading. Identifying which target was the one the radar detected is a job left to the officer, who frequently makes mistakes. UNFORTUNATELY for most of us, the officer will never admit any error, resulting in a high rate of conviction and/or plea bargaining.

A radar detector is NOT flawless by any means, HOWEVER, it can be an incredible advantage to avoiding a speeding ticket, a DUI charge, and getting pulled over.

You live in NORTH CAROLINA, if you do NOT already have a radar detector, you are taking a huge chance.

The source for the above information was researched through Wikipedia.