Honest tips needed for radar dispute.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by sebberry

Just imagine - you lose your car for a week and the officer calls you up just after you get it back to tell you the gun was faulty and the case is being dropped. How do you get back your week without your car? Unless you have invented time travel, you can't.

You really are quite tiresome.

[ilvtofu]

Originally Posted by zulutango

The history of the Radar unit will only show when it was last calaibrated by the manufacturer...it will not show you if it was functioning correctly at the time you were stopped. IF the unit malfunctions THEN it is sent away for repairs. IF it is malfunctioning you cannot use it for accurate readings so you won't be using it in the first place. All the repair/calibration history will show is that the unit was likely functioning correctly when used, NOT the opposite. When you call a plumber because a tap is leaking and he replaces the washers, the tap is no longer leaking. His visit goes to prove that. Same with the Radar.

Analogy is pretty flawed, people look at service history on cars etc. to see if scheduled maintenance is done and at what mileage etc. If a car doesn't have it's timing belt changed for 300,000 miles, it gets pretty obvious as to who's fault it is that the engine needs a rebuild. In the states the requirement is something like every half year or every year to have the radars calibrated. I don't know much about radars but it seems there would be some sort of gradual wear and tear that would require them to be routinely calibrated which is not always obvious to the user unlike a leaking tap.

[BNR32_Coupe]

i have a phD in physics, if you look at this t-distribution, based on the variables present that day:

engine noise at 65 dB,
wind blowing NNE at 15 knots,
GVWW at exactly 4255 lbs,
tides were in,
moon was at PEAK waxing crescent,
humidity was at 52.3% (documented by weather canada)
the grade of the road was fair (certified by the engineering department of transport canada)
my tires at the time were heated to 25% of its temperature thresh-hold capacity (as evidenced by the linear progression of tire wear (you're welcome to step outside the court room and measure this right now))

according to all these variables, there's no way i was speeding at exactly 110km/h that this ticket indicates. my calculations indicate that i was likely travelling 101-106.5km/h with a confidence interval of 1 standard deviation. in addition, as evidenced by my credentials (phD physics), i'm obviously more educated than this officer, so i should have more validity than him. therefore, this ticket is invalid, and that officer should be executed for not considering all these variables and descriminating against my ethnicity, medical conditions, political standpoint, sexuality (hetero), vehicle type (super-sports car during its time: '99 acura integra GSR), and martial status (it's kinda complicated). i rest my case your honour.

[zulutango]

" don't know much about radars but it seems there would be some sort of gradual wear and tear that would require them to be routinely calibrated which is not always obvious to the user unlike a leaking tap. "


Read my post...the Radar instruments are used until they malfunction. usually this takes some time...sometimes years. When they malfunction they are immediately removed from service, boxed up and sent for authorized service which may include, or may not include, recalibration. Only when they are working correctly and capable of accurately displatying the speeds of targeted vehicles, are they returned to service. I'm saying this all again as you obviously missed it in my earlier post...having a service record showing that the unit was working properly and is certified as so by the manufacturer, will NOT upport your guess/speculation/suggestion/whatever...that it was not working correcly. Unlike you, I do know about Police Radar, am trained it its operation and used it for almost 28 years in one form or another.


You know a tap is leaking when it leaks...when it is fixed it no longer leaks. You know a Radar unit is not working correctly the moment it will not display the expected readings. You know it is working correctly when it displays the expected speeds after being checked by a trained operator, in the manner required by the manufacturer to say that it is working correcly.

[Mr.C]

Is there any device I can install on my car that constantly monitors my speed and records it to a file or something? I have been pulled over before because I was going "over 100". In a Chevy Van. In the right lane. Behind a truck going 80 (I was driving a van with bad tires, no way I'd be speeding). Luckily I got off with a warning to "slow down", but I was going the speed limit.

Any devices available?

[sebberry]

Originally Posted by Mr.C

Is there any device I can install on my car that constantly monitors my speed and records it to a file or something? I have been pulled over before because I was going "over 100". In a Chevy Van. In the right lane. Behind a truck going 80 (I was driving a van with bad tires, no way I'd be speeding). Luckily I got off with a warning to "slow down", but I was going the speed limit.

Any devices available?

http://www.dod-tec.com/product.php?cat_1st=4&cat_2nd=6

I bought one of these, but sadly it was an early production model and the speed overlay was out of sync with the video.

I was on the Pat Bay highway today where they're building the useless bridge to the airport. It's a 60 zone and they have "Your speed" boards for both north and south traffic.

I approached both speed reader boards at 60km/hr. The northbound one showed I was going 48km/hr then jumped up to 65km/hr, and the southbound one showed 60km/hr for a moment then jumped up to 75km/hr.

[spc]

Originally Posted by Mr.C

(I was driving a van with bad tires, no way I'd be speeding).

If the tires are bad why are you driving at all?

[zulutango]

Originally Posted by Mr.C

Is there any device I can install on my car that constantly monitors my speed and records it to a file or something? I have been pulled over before because I was going "over 100". In a Chevy Van. In the right lane. Behind a truck going 80 (I was driving a van with bad tires, no way I'd be speeding). Luckily I got off with a warning to "slow down", but I was going the speed limit.

Any devices available?

There is one in every vehicle and it's called a speedometer. If you videotaped it you would have a record. Then you would have to prove time, date, location, vehicle used, that the speedo was accurate and not being manipulated, that sort of thing. If you have lots of money there are commercial Police Radar systems that encorperate the use of a Radar set and a video camera. Used to have one called VICS". It did all you ask for a mere $10,000 per unit. You would need a certified/ calibrated speedo in your vehicle and a way to prove all the above I just mentioned.

[Waffen]

You could also take the vehicle in question and have the speedo checked for proper calibration. Wheel size etc. can throw the speedo off.

[Mr.C]

Originally Posted by spc

If the tires are bad why are you driving at all?

Bad = all season tires in freezing rain. No choice there.