Laws on Radar Detectors
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 14
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From: Los Angeles
The detector law has been upheld. While in law school at UVA I did an internship in the Commonwealth Atty's office and I recall coming across a case specifically upholding the radar detector law. I don't remember what the constit'l argument was, but the court essentially said that law enforcement's right to enforce the law exceeds the individual's right to measures designed specifically to evade the law (i.e., radar detectors).
I agree with the earlier post that you should just pay your fine and not attempt to fight it (and thus be on the line for court costs + fines/points, if any).
I agree with the earlier post that you should just pay your fine and not attempt to fight it (and thus be on the line for court costs + fines/points, if any).
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles
Icemn2003 -- careful what you wish for. CA is even more broke than VA, CA (unlike VA) doesn't have "positive" points, VA judges are sympathetic to letting you pay the fine but excuse the points (don't even try that in CA), and VA troopers do not pull you over for piddly violations. Been here 1.5 years and already have a violation for a U-turn in a business district, "rolling" through a stop b/c the officer did not see my car "roll back as it should when you come to a *complete* stop," and exiting a double-lined HOV lane w/o waiting for the dotted-lined-exit (to evade an accident).
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 843
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From: Wetumpka, AL
I don't care for Virginia anymore either. After my wife & I picked up LIL RAJA's car on Friday a couple of weeks ago here's what happened to us:
My wife is driving and we're stuck behind two slow pokes. We finally get a chance to pass one of them and the wife doesn't down shift. The passing area is not that big and Linda (wife) still has the car in 6th. I told her to shift to 3rd, but she just shifted to 5th. Anyway it's taking forever to pass and the double line is coming up and now two cars are coming at us. Linda is now past the slower car by one car length or more and we're getting into the double yellow and the cars are still coming. I kept wondering why she wasn't getting over (top is down, so no problem seeing), so I yelled at her to get over. We are now three car lengths ahead and she finally got over. We did cross the double yellow and the other cars coming at us probably slowed down, but none of us were close to death or anything like that. Linda hates passing anyone and she's always afraid to downshift. Linda usually is very safe, but she is not much of a passer.
Anyway, 15-20 minutes later we are still behind one slowpoke and we see a cop go by the other way. He sees us and turns around. He pulls us over and the car in front pulls over. The car in front realizes he's not in trouble and takes off. I told the officers that we just bought the car. I have the title and bill of sale. I explain to them that we just bought the car and are traveling back to Alabama with the car. They tell us that they got three 911 calls about us passing on double lines. I can't believe this! Three calls! 911? Maybe one call from a busy body, but three? I figure they're lying, but anyway they can't do anything because they didn't see it. Linda nor I ever admitted to anything. Well the cops take my info and go back to their car. They come back in a few minutes and give my wife a ticket for no tag. I said, "What are we supposed to do? We bought the car Friday afternoon and we'll be back in Alabama on Sunday and I'll buy a tag on Monday." They said they didn't know, but that we are supposed to have a tag. They were nice the whole time, but I thought this was ridiculous, and I figure that since they couldn't give us a ticket for improper passing they would give us a ticket for no tag.
On Monday I talked to the tag office in Alabama and they thought getting a ticket was crazy. I then called Hillsville, VA where Linda received the ticket. The lady there thought the ticket was crazy too. Then she looked up the code & she said it had no provision for paying the ticket my mail. She said to write the judge a letter explaining everything and that he would probably throw the ticket out.
I sent the letter & copies of everything off yesterday. I also looked up the code & here is what it said:
46.2-606. Notice of change of address.
Whenever any person who has applied for or obtained the registration or title to a vehicle moves from the address shown in his application, registration card or certificate of title, he shall notify the Department of his change of address within thirty days.
Anyone failing to comply with this section may be charged a fee of five dollars, to be used to cover the Department's expenses.
(1974, c. 347,
My wife is driving and we're stuck behind two slow pokes. We finally get a chance to pass one of them and the wife doesn't down shift. The passing area is not that big and Linda (wife) still has the car in 6th. I told her to shift to 3rd, but she just shifted to 5th. Anyway it's taking forever to pass and the double line is coming up and now two cars are coming at us. Linda is now past the slower car by one car length or more and we're getting into the double yellow and the cars are still coming. I kept wondering why she wasn't getting over (top is down, so no problem seeing), so I yelled at her to get over. We are now three car lengths ahead and she finally got over. We did cross the double yellow and the other cars coming at us probably slowed down, but none of us were close to death or anything like that. Linda hates passing anyone and she's always afraid to downshift. Linda usually is very safe, but she is not much of a passer.
Anyway, 15-20 minutes later we are still behind one slowpoke and we see a cop go by the other way. He sees us and turns around. He pulls us over and the car in front pulls over. The car in front realizes he's not in trouble and takes off. I told the officers that we just bought the car. I have the title and bill of sale. I explain to them that we just bought the car and are traveling back to Alabama with the car. They tell us that they got three 911 calls about us passing on double lines. I can't believe this! Three calls! 911? Maybe one call from a busy body, but three? I figure they're lying, but anyway they can't do anything because they didn't see it. Linda nor I ever admitted to anything. Well the cops take my info and go back to their car. They come back in a few minutes and give my wife a ticket for no tag. I said, "What are we supposed to do? We bought the car Friday afternoon and we'll be back in Alabama on Sunday and I'll buy a tag on Monday." They said they didn't know, but that we are supposed to have a tag. They were nice the whole time, but I thought this was ridiculous, and I figure that since they couldn't give us a ticket for improper passing they would give us a ticket for no tag.
On Monday I talked to the tag office in Alabama and they thought getting a ticket was crazy. I then called Hillsville, VA where Linda received the ticket. The lady there thought the ticket was crazy too. Then she looked up the code & she said it had no provision for paying the ticket my mail. She said to write the judge a letter explaining everything and that he would probably throw the ticket out.
I sent the letter & copies of everything off yesterday. I also looked up the code & here is what it said:
46.2-606. Notice of change of address.
Whenever any person who has applied for or obtained the registration or title to a vehicle moves from the address shown in his application, registration card or certificate of title, he shall notify the Department of his change of address within thirty days.
Anyone failing to comply with this section may be charged a fee of five dollars, to be used to cover the Department's expenses.
(1974, c. 347,
Registered User
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,762
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From: Bedford
VG2 non-detector, detector? I have one built into the RMR-D312 detector. VG-2 detector can not see my detector.
http://www.007radar.com/mini.d.htm
radar around the airport is the only thing that sets this of prematurely. It picks up radar from an incredible distance. I slow down and watch other drivers with radar detectors keep driving. I have only had it for 6 months and it has saved my ass several times. I need to get one hooked up on bike now.
next purchase will be the black widow. For what I have paid in that past for deferred adjudication and fines, I can afford to try one.
http://www.007radardetectors.com/black_wid...credit_card.htm
http://www.007radar.com/mini.d.htm
radar around the airport is the only thing that sets this of prematurely. It picks up radar from an incredible distance. I slow down and watch other drivers with radar detectors keep driving. I have only had it for 6 months and it has saved my ass several times. I need to get one hooked up on bike now.
next purchase will be the black widow. For what I have paid in that past for deferred adjudication and fines, I can afford to try one.
http://www.007radardetectors.com/black_wid...credit_card.htm
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,584
Likes: 1
From: Baton Rouge, LA
i hate to say this.... but the Rocky Mountain Radar gear is a scam. they don't jam and they are barely even detectors.
while http://www.radartest.com is known to be a biased site (especially towards Bel detectors and against the V1) - the questions they ask and issues they address on the RMR equipment are fairly accurate. here's an article on radar jammers, and how much of a rip off the RMR stuff is...
quoted from the section about the black widow...
my personal understanding is that Speed Zones is a more reputable site for detector evaluations...
while http://www.radartest.com is known to be a biased site (especially towards Bel detectors and against the V1) - the questions they ask and issues they address on the RMR equipment are fairly accurate. here's an article on radar jammers, and how much of a rip off the RMR stuff is...
quoted from the section about the black widow...
But we gave RMR's expensive jammer its due and made multiple runs against all eleven radar and laser guns on hand. The results were in keeping with past tests of RMR jammers: none of the radar and laser guns had the slightest difficulty in clocking the jammer-equipped vehicle. And at no time did the Black Widow indicate that it was being hit with a radar or laser.