Newport News Traffic Radar Tools: RADAR & LIDAR

To detect speeding in Virginia, there are a whole bunch of different methods and instruments that officers can use. These instruments include RADAR and LIDAR, which are considered by the courts to be very accurate. As long as the police officer can show in court that his equipment has been properly calibrated before the event then the reading that he gives for the driver’s speed is going to be considered by the court reliable and correct.

The way the officers prove the accuracy is by providing a certificate of calibration for the equipment. If for some reason the police officer does not bring the certificate to court or if the certificate is incomplete or has incorrect information, then this gives your Newport News speeding ticket lawyer the opportunity to exclude the equipment’s results, which most of the time results in dismissal of the charge altogether. While the RADAR and LIDAR are considered to be very accurate, they definitely are not without issues. It is very difficult to show in court, but sometimes an attorney can be successful in getting a police officer to admit to the potential possibility that the equipment may have locked on to the wrong object. If there is heavy traffic and the officer was in a position where the direct shot at the vehicle wasn’t entirely easy, then this could happen.

“Pacing” In Newport News Speeding Cases

In Newport News speeding cases, officers sometimes will track a vehicle’s speed by using a method called pacing. This is when the police officer follows the vehicle for a significant amount of time so that he can determine how fast that vehicle is going by matching its speed and then looking at his own speedometer to determine how fast the targeted vehicle is going.

Defenses Against Pacing

Pacing is a little bit controversial because this is one of the situations where really it is the officer’s word against the other person’s. The officer’s own speedometer may have been off and if he can’t provide a proper calibration certificate for his own speedometer, then it is possible that the results of pacing could be completely thrown out.

Another defense is if we can show that the officer was gaining speed or that he wasn’t completely matching the driver.