Rick Mayer seat feedback/Radar Detectors . . . ??

[Buckster]

I'll have to ask some of my LEO buds. My guess is that an out-of-stater would be asked to put it away while in VA. Technically, it is illegal to possess but a certain amount of discretion would be appropriate. Now if you were being an a-hole to the Trooper, then I imagine you would get slapped with a rather hefty summons.

So beating the trooper over the head with it while laughing like Nelson from the Simpsons is a no-no, ok, got it.

Would be interested to hear what your LEO friends say, in the UK we have one set of laws, except in Wales where it is legal to frotter sheep.

 

[tdragger]

Ok, here's the response from my LEO friend:

James,

Actually all police agencies in Virginia handle RADAR detectors the same way. They confiscate them and the owner never gets the detector back. The owner/user will also receive a ticket for possession of RADAR detector.

There is zero tolerance for RADAR detectors in the State.

I can tell you that if the detector is locked in a trunk, with no power source, you should have no problem. The same should go for a RADAR detector that is locked in a saddlebag with no power source.

On a side note, detectors are really becoming a waste of money. Most police agencies in Virginia are using LIDAR or taking steps to obtain LIDAR’s as soon as possible. RADAR detectors are useless against LIDAR. In addition, the number of stores and buildings using automatic doors has increased substantially. These devises operate on the same frequency as police RADAR. The end result is that the vast majority of signals received by a detector are false signals emitted by automatic doors.

The police do not tell anyone about this because public safety is served when motorists slow down because of a false signal.

It is very easy to obtain probable cause to stop a motorist for possessing a RADAR detector. Every court in Virginia has recognized the unassailable nature of this probable cause and it is rarely, if ever, questioned anymore. Ask me about it sometime and I will tell you more.

Devises sold to disrupt LIDAR are useless.

So, to answer your question, out-of-stater’s would probably not be very happy with the result of being caught with a RADAR detector.

Finally, and as a personal favor, please encourage your contacts to keep their speed down. In 27 years of law enforcement I cannot erase from my memory a single face of those I held while the life slipped from their bodies. It is my one lasting burden. Everyone knows that almost half of all fatal accidents involve drugs or alcohol, but what they overlook is that speeding is a factor in almost all fatal accidents. Everyone thinks they can handle speed. The danger is that motorists become accustomed to driving within a margin of speed closely related to national speed limit standards. They develop muscle memory in accordance with this driving behavior directly associated with the speed of visual recognition and reaction to input. They are driving at 60 to 75 percent of their ability which is not a problem. When a person is speeding (10 mph or more over the limit) they place themselves in a situation where they are driving at more than 75 percent of their ability. Often they are driving at more than 90 percent of their ability because they over-estimate their skills and they do not have the eye/ hand coordination (muscle memory/visual reaction speed) to deal with unexpected roadway hazards. They also suffer from divided attention because they are spending too much time scanning for police instead of scanning for all the other potential hazards. The risk of speeding is not worth the potential result.

I don’t know any motorcycle riders who truly spend sufficient time practicing emergency stopping and break away techniques. They need good muscle memory to perform a safe emergency stop.

Okay, okay, this is way more than you asked for. Let’s just call it a plea from an old policeman who saw too many needless deaths. Keep it safe and thanks for asking.

Some good points for all to consider.

 

[Buckster]

I rarely speed in the U.S. I find driving much more relaxed there than the U.K. I was just interested because we do not have the varying laws from county to county in the U.K.

 

[usafo8]

Ok, here's the response from my LEO friend:

James, Everyone knows that almost half of all fatal accidents involve drugs or alcohol, but what they overlook is that speeding is a factor in almost all fatal accidents. Everyone thinks they can handle speed.

Some good points for all to consider.

With all due respect to your experience, if speed alone were the killer I would be extremely and many times over, DEAD. Having broken Mach 1 daily for 12 years or so, and Mach 2 on occasion, I can demonstrate that I survived quite nicely, thank you. The big difference here and on the highway, especially in the USA, is the training given to the operator. The priority here seems to be parallel parking. With lack of proper training, it is the disparity of speeds in a relatively small area that kills. Slow drivers, who cause and drive blissfully away from the scene of the accident are tolerated, while someone who puts on a short burst of speed to avoid a dangerous situation gets cited. Is there a strange priority here? Might that priority be revenue for the local coffers? Noooo, couldn't be!

James, you are not incorrect and I thank you for doing a thankless, difficult job. Your viewpoint just comes in from a different angle that you probably considered every now and then.

God, I wish we had real drivers training and testing in this country!

 

[Addicted2it_1]

On a brighter note, we managed a quick 130+ on the 101 south of Cloverdale, CA. . . what a blast, the grin lasted for hours while we stopped on Healdsburg for some nosh.

I heard there's a cop who sits on the Cloverdale entrance to the 101 southbound. Not a good place to be speeding.