State: Radar detectors still in demand for U.S. drivers

Hanger, a local resident, is one among 20-million Americans using a radar detector in their vehicles, according to the Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association.

The gizmos, which date to the 1970s, look like garage door openers and are mounted on the inside of a vehicle's windshield. They search for signals and warn drivers of police officers using radar.

In ideal conditions, the devices, which cost between $60 and $400, can detect signals from about a mile away, which is too far for police to get an accurate reading.

Most radar detectors are designed to track three types of radar, which have different bandwidths -- X, K and Ka. Newer radar detectors also track police laser, and the pricier ones can indicate from what direction a radar signal is coming.

Laser is the most accurate tracking method and can easily pinpoint vehicles on heavily traveled roads. But unlike radar, a laser gun cannot be used behind a windshield, must be stationary when operated and is expensive.

X-band radar is a 1950s-era frequency that can be detected up to four miles away and can't gauge a target's speed from more than a half-mile away.

K and Ka bands are newer. The bands can be detected from about a mile away, but Ka-band radar guns offer an "instant on-instant off" feature that keeps the beam invisible to radar detectors until the transmitter is on.

That's what Daytona Beach police Sgt. William Rhodes said his officers in the traffic department rely on. He said officers -- who undergo about 40 hours of radar training -- see a speeder, target the car with the radar gun and turn on the transmitter when the car is within a few hundred feet.

"It takes a millisecond," Rhodes said. "By the time your little radar detector is giving you a warning, I got you."

A radar detector is obsolete if a police officer uses his car to pace a driver's speed or if a vehicle is being tracked between two points by aircraft. In the latter scenario, police use the time it takes a car to travel between the points to determine its speed, and then a patrol car pulls the speeder over.

Most radar detectors aren't designed to pick up radar beams from behind. Weather, cell phones, airport radar and automatic door openers also can interfere with a radar detector.

Some police radar guns even have a "radar detector detector." However, many radar detectors have a feature that cloaks the device from such equipment.

Radar detectors are legal in all states except Virginia and the District of Columbia.

"People buy them for one reason," said Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Chuck Williams. "To speed, plain and simple."

James Baxter, the president of the National Motorists Association, said the radar detector industry had suffered since 1987, when the federal government allowed states to set speed limits above 55 mph. With limits of 65 and 70 miles per hour on most major highways, many motorists have little need for a radar detector, Baxter said.

Still, 70 percent of drivers in the United States exceed the speed limit, making a radar detector useful, he said. There is a difference between buying a radar detector to avoid getting a ticket and getting one to speed, he said.

Rhodes doesn't necessarily mind people using radar detectors. He said drivers who use one may detect a police radar, prompting them -- and hopefully nearby motorists -- to step on the brakes.

"The goal is to try to get people to slow down," he said. "You may beat us once, twice, five times. Eventually, if you're speeding down a road that we're working, we're . . . going to give you a ticket and it won't be cheap."

Back to State news

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

Special Links

Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk