Radar Detectors and Jammers in Fairfax

A radar detector is a device that is used to detect if law enforcement is using a radar gun to monitor your vehicle’s speed. Typically, it works by detecting the radio waves that are transmitted by a radar gun before the radio waves are close enough to detect the speed of your vehicle. There are many legal questions surrounding the use of a radar detector, which vary from state to state. In Fairfax, a local traffic or reckless driving lawyer will know the regulations concerning these devices.

What Are Radar Detectors

People should know that radar detectors only detect one type of method that law enforcement officers use for detecting vehicle speed. Officers also use laser devices and they also pace vehicles, and there are traffic cameras as well. Having a radar detector is not going to necessarily prevent a driver from being caught by a law enforcement officer and could result in not only a speeding ticket because they were caught, but also an additional fine for having an illegal radar detector.

Still, the biggest mistake to avoid in Virginia with a radar detector is to misunderstand the law. The radar detector needs to be inaccessible to anyone in the vehicle. It doesn’t matter if the radar detector doesn’t work and it’s next to the driver, or if it’s unplugged and it’s next to the driver, if it is accessible and it is a radar detector, that’s enough to find a driver guilty.

Radar Jammers

Radar jammers are instruments that are used by drivers to cause the radar gun of law enforcement officers to stop working or jam up. They are not legal, and typically law enforcement officers can tell if a radar jammer is being used because, rather than having an incorrect reading, the radar gun is just not going to show a reading at all.

Legality in Fairfax

In Virginia, it is not illegal to have a radar detector in your vehicle as long as it’s not accessible to the driver or any of the passengers in the vehicle, and it is removed from any power source. Radar detectors are not allowed to be used in Fairfax, as in all of Virginia, because it’s illegal to monitor whether you’re being monitored by law enforcement. It does not matter what model of detector is being used, every kind of model is illegal as long it’s accessible in the car. It doesn’t matter what type it is, if it is accessible, the driver will likely be charged.

When someone is driving from a state where it is legal to use a radar detector, and they in fact have a radar detector, the best thing for them to do is to unplug it from the power source, turn it off and put it in their trunk, or somewhere in the vehicle where it’s not going to be accessible by anyone in the car. Even turning the detector off and disconnecting it is not sufficient, if it is still accessible for use by anyone in the vehicle, then the driver can still be found guilty.

Penalties and Confiscation

The penalty for having a radar detector is that the driver will be issued a fine. There are no demerit points awarded for having a radar detector. The officer may take the device if he determines that he needs it as evidence. However, when he no longer needs it as evidence, the officer is required to return it to the person charged with the violation.

How a Lawyer Can Help

A lawyer can help determine whether a driver’s actions amounted to being guilty of having an illegal radar detector or if the statute was misinterpreted. The lawyer can also help the driver get their detector back if the law enforcement officer did not give it back to them in a timely manner. After 6 months, however, radar detectors are allowed to be destroyed.