Your Virginia Legal Team

Speed Detection in Spotsylvania

There are several speeding tools and tactics that law enforcement officials use to determine and gather evidence against someone who is driving faster than the speed limit. Certain tools such as LIDAR, radar, and speedometers can track someone’s speed. Pacing is another common tactic officers use to determine a vehicle’s speed. Speed detection in Spotsylvania can impact the outcome of someone’s speeding case.

If you are facing a speeding ticket, you may want to consult a skilled Spotsylvania speeding ticket attorney who can assist you in building a defense. There are several ways officers can track your speed, however, there are defense strategies that can combat these types of evidence.

Traffic Radar Tools

Radar detection is used to detect a person’s speed. As previously discussed LIDAR is a commonly used tool to detect speeding, however, officers will typically use S-DAR for radar detection. There are different approved models that are utilized both by the local police and by the state troopers. There is no universal radar detection tool, and it really just depends on who is pulling a person is over and what model they have.

Radar works by basically bouncing waves off of something, and determines an object’s speed by estimating the distance and the time that it takes to come back to report back to the radar.

Defenses to Radar Gun Readings

There are several defenses to radar gun readings that can be used in court. First, it is a defense to show that the officer did not use the radar gun in the proper way. A person may also show that the officer did not calibrate the radar device before and after their shift, therefore the calibration was off. In addition, it is a defense to show that the radar device was not officially calibrated within six months. It is a defense to show that the officer did not have the proper training and experience, they do not know how to properly operate a radar device, or there was some interference while the officer was using the device for example if the officer was using the device through bushes.

There are many ways that a person can go defend speed detection in Spotsylvania, however, it really just depends on what the particular instances that lead to a person being pulled over.

Accuracy in Instrument Readings

Radar instruments are exceedingly accurate and often capture a person’s speed at 100% accuracy. However, it is difficult to state a particular radar device’s accuracy, and whether or not it is calibrated correctly. The accuracy of a particular radar device will depend on what instrument is used and when it was last calibrated.

There are several issues that can arise with traffic radar instruments, such as if the officer is trying to use the device while pointing through bushes if they did not calibrate it before and after their shift, if they do not have a calibration certificate within six months, if they are pointing at the wrong thing, if they do not have the right radar gun, and if an officer does not know how to use a radar instrument.

Additionally, another common issue occurs if the officer does not have the training and experience to be able to testify that they know how to use the radar device correctly. A judge may consider all of these factors in a speeding case. Operator errors are not very common.

Pacing as a Tactic

Pacing is when an officer drives behind a person’s vehicle with no other vehicles in between for a certain distance in order to gauge his or her speed based on the speed of their own vehicle. Pacing is admissible evidence for speeding.

Pacing is only as reliable as the officer’s own speedometer, and there are several factors that can change the reading on the pacing. So for example, if another car is in between the cars it can be an issue that impacts a speeding case. Additionally, you often hear the officers testify that they were trying to catch the person, which means that whatever was on their speedometer was not accurately reflecting the speed that a person is actually traveling. There are times where the officer is trying to gauge the speed, however, they are unable to get a clear reading because the officer is not following a driver for enough time.

There are different defenses depending on the facts of his or her case. Some of the defenses when an officer has paced a car occur if the officer did the pacing incorrectly, meaning that they did not follow a person for the correct distance. Additionally, if the officer did not properly calibrate the radar device, if the officer did not follow a single driver, or if there were other drivers in between if the officer was just trying to catch up with a driver.

Contact Us

Do not send us confidential information related to you or your company until you speak with one of our attorneys and get authorization to send that information to us.

Copyright 2024 Virginia Criminal Lawyer. All rights reserved. Disclaimer/Privacy Policy