I defend speeding tickets for a living and I have heard some creative stuff in my time. However, most of it doesn’t work or has very limited usefulness.
RADAR DETECTORS
Radar detectors are probably the most useful devices you can buy. Radar detectors pick up radar frequencies readily, and can even pick up some beams before your are being measured by an officer.
However, radar detectors cause several problems. 1) They are banned in several states (including Virginia) and when you get a ticket, many judges will increase the penalties if the hear you had a radar detector. Virginia also has radar detector-detectors which they occasionally use to enforce the anti-radar detector laws. 2) About half or more of the tickets written in Northern Virginia and from Lidar (laser) or Pacing a radar detectors do not do anything to protect against that. 3) Officer’s running speed traps will often position their radar at the crest of a hill or a bend so that by the time that you see them or your detector senses them, you are being measured. Officer’s will also use the “hold’ feature on their radar devices to turn off their machines until a speeding car is within range and then they turn on their device. In these cases, you usually don’t have time to decelerate sufficiently even if your machine picks up the radar signal instantly. Also, slamming on the breaks as the officer turns on his radar device is a sure way to get your car searched for a radar detector in banned states.
Radar Jamers
These devices emits a radar signal that jams police radar. These devices are illegal under Federal law and many state laws as well. Radar Jamers only work if they emit a radar signal with a similar frequency to the police radar and different models of police radar have different frequencies. Radar jamers don’t work against Lidar or pacing.
Lidar/Laser Detectors
Lidar beams are like an invisible laser pointer. In order to detect a lidar beam, the invisible dot that the officer places on your car must contact a sensor. This requires installing sensors all over your car and is expensive.
Also, under normal conditions, a lidar device produces a speed result within .3 seconds. So even if your device does manage to sense the lidar device, you will only have about .3 seconds to react. If you even get your foot on the brake you won’t be able to slow down in time. Also, these devices are illegal in many states.
Anti Radar Coatings, Bras, license plate mounts.
Products that claim to be made of materials that diffuse or scatter or absorb radar beams are rarely effective. They certainly never make your car invisible to radar.
Some materials and surfaces are easier to measure with radar than others. This affects the range of the device and can affect whether your car’ speed is displayed by the radar device if the office is using the less common”Strongest signal mode” on his radar device.
However, these differences rarely make a different and the type of car you drive has much more of an affect than any add on can provide. For instance, a low profile car may be measure at 1000 feet instead of 1500 for an SUV. Unless you are driving in an area with wide open strait roads, the difference in range is going to be irrelevant. Most radar distances in Virginia are 500 feet or less. While the difference between an SUV and a sports car is significant but not helpful, the difference between a sports car with a non reflective grill cover or plate cover and one without out is extremely marginal. It would be unlikely to decrease the range of the device enough to prevent a ticket.
Anti Lidar Coatings, Bras, License Plate Covers.
These coatings have to be applied to the whole car otherwise it would only work if the officer chooses to place the dot on the protected portion of the car. However, even if the officer does mark the protected sections, there materials only limit the range they do not make the car unreadable. The decrease in range is marginal and unsubstantial. (i.e. The cop can only measure the car at 1000 feet instead of 1500 feet when most tickets are written at 700 feet or less).
Anti-Camera Ticket License Plate Cover’s and Sprays.
There are license plate covers and sprays that are designed to wash out a photo of your license plate. They reflect the camera flash and over expose the picture so you can’t read the plate. Those covers are outlawed in DC and Virginia (if the obscure any of the writing on the plate). Spray-on devices are not illegal in Virginia as long as they do not alter the appearance of the plate.
However, the problem with these devices is that they only work if the flash is pointed at the plate. If the flash uses indirect lighting then they only work if the sun is low in the horizon and shining at a specific angle. Many camera ticket devices work around this problem by simply adjusting the direction of the flash.
By: Luke J. Nichols
Nichols & Green pllc
703-383-9222
