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SPEED MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES
ARE DETECTORS LEGAL?
In Most States YES. Laser-Radar detectors are legal in every
state (except Virginia and Washington, D.C., which have local
regulations restricting the use of radar receivers in any vehicle)
when used in automobiles or light trucks (under 10,000 lbs.).
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a regulation,
effective January 1994 which prohibits radar and laser detector
use in vehicles over 10,000 lbs. Prior to the FHWA regulation,
laws existed in New York restricting the use of radar detectors in
trucks over 18,000 lbs. and in Illinois in trucks over 26,000 lbs.
POP
Mode
™
POP™ Mode is a feature on some newer radar guns operating
on K and Ka bands. When the gun is in POP™ Mode and
activated, a brief burst of energy, less that 1/15 of a second, is
transmitted and the vehicle's speed is quickly acquired.
A detector without POP™ Mode detection capability cannot
respond to this brief transmission.
Laser Facts
It's well documented that many radar guns cannot reliably
provide the speed of a targeted vehicle that is traveling in a
group of vehicles. In contrast, a laser gun can target a specific
vehicle out of a line of traffic and determine its speed. The
advantage of laser over radar in terms of target identification is
the result of the laser gun's narrow beam. A radar gun's
transmission can cover more than a four-lane highway at a
distance of 1,000 feet, compared with a laser gun's transmission
which covers about 3 feet at the same distance.
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