|
Also, if the cop claims that he clocked your speed at "X" miles per hour using radar, you should know that radar is (or can be) inaccurate under the following circumstances:
1. If the cop has a CB radio in his car (or if you were stopped on an interstate and there was a trucker near you, his CB radio could have done it) a high-pitched whistle can distort the radar reading. The reading depends on, and increases with, the pitch of the whistle.
2. Radar reads the speed of larger objects before smaller ones. So if a truck is passing you, the speed being displayed is that of the truck regardless of if the cop has it aimed at you. This is espically true the further away from you the cop is when he gets the reading. The radar beam spreads out over distance, unlike a laser beam - which narrow and straight. It is called beam divergence. If a cop is 1/8th of a mile away from you, he is really clocking four lanes worth of traffic!
3. Belive it or not, blowing dust or debris and even RAIN or SNOW can cause an inaccurate reading, because the radar will read the speed of the moving crap/rain/snow instead of you. If you are going to use this as a defense, take a copy of a weather report into court (two is better, one from the National Weather Service and one from a local paper - yes, take the actual paper in) to prove that it was windy.
4. High tension powerlines, transforms, neon lights and lightening create an electromagnetic field and/or harmonic distortion that may cause a bad reading. These are the powerlines that sit on towers. If you were near these, have a picture ready to prove it. Ask the officer if thats where he stopped you - he'll answer you honestly because he wont see the powerline issue coming.
5. The cop car's air conditioner or heater can distort the reading. The radar unit can read the fan speed of the heater/air unit instead of you. If it was summer when the ticket was issued, be sure to ask him if he had the air or heat on. He wont see this one coming and he'll likely answer you honestly. The prosecutor will probly even object on the grounds of irrelevence. And the judge will overrule the objection if you promise to show relavence because curiousity will kill the cat. Another reason to get a weather report.
6.
|