I was at a client today (a law firm) and the secretaty for the traffic attorney attorney was telling me about all the people who have been getting tickets lately in Forsyth County.

She said all the new cop cars (The carmaros enough said) are equipped with a new form of VASCAR.

Does anyone know anything about this.

I know Vascar is simply timing cars from point A to point B and calculating the speed.

The problem with Vascar has always been that the cop is required to push the start and stop and a tenth of a second can make a 20 - 30 mph speed difference.

I was wondering if this supposed new VASCAR automatically calibrates with a couple of points and uses RF or something to calculate point A and point B.

Any information would be appreciated.

I personally think VASCAR should be illegal.

Dean

 

[QUOTE]http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/425/425lect04.htm
VASCAR was popular in about 30 states from 1958 to 1990, and may be still encountered in a few jurisdictions. It is a purely mechanical stopwatch-type device built into police cars which require the officer to start the mechanism whenever a moving object passes a first checkpoint and stop the mechanism when a second checkpoint is passed. The distance between checkpoints has been precisely measured, and it calculates speed on the well-proven principle that distance traveled equals rate times time (dt = r * t) so rate (speed) is determined by dt/t which are both known values.

 

Damn, I suck at algebra too.

 

I agree, that type of speed check stinks. However, if it becomes really common and the FCC requires them to stick to a specific frequency, it can be fairly easy to make a jammer.

G.

 

You do have one advantage with VASCAR. It gives the average speed over a determined distance. Therefore you can be travelling 100mph and if you slow down fast enough, your recorded speed can be under the limit. This requires vigilance on the part of the driver. Look for the presence of anything that may alert you. Most people know about the wide white lines painted on highways. Cops also often set two traffic cones beside the road. Beware that vascar can also be used in a moving patrol car. Any two visible landmarks can be utilized by the cop because the vascar device is usually wired into the cars spedo/odo cable (like the "yellow box" sold by Rick's) and calculates the distance as the patrol vehicle moves between the two points after the target vehicle has already passed them and had its time recorded. The most reliable thing you can do is be alert for the presence of a law enforcement vehicle and slow down fast. This shortcoming of vascar is the reason that most traffic cops prefer to use radar so that they can get a peak speed reading as opposed to an average. If you get hit with instant on radar its over as soon as you realize it. At least with vascar you have somewhat of a chance to adjust before it is too late.