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Use of Radar Detectors in Virginia

Police radar detectors are devices used to detect whether a law enforcement official has a radar gun. Radar guns are used to detect speed, especially in speeding and reckless driving cases. Therefore, some people will have these radar detectors mounted on their dashboards so that they can see where a police officer might be stationed with their radar gun, and adjust their speed accordingly before they reach the officer.

In the State of Virginia, these detectors are illegal. Therefore, if you were pulled over for speeding or reckless driving and the officer sees that you have one of these detectors within reach, you will get an additional confiscated. An experienced Virginia reckless driving attorney will be able to help you with your case.

Police Radar Detectors

A police radar detector is a device that people use to detect if their vehicle is being monitored by law enforcement officers specifically using a radar gun. Typically, they work by detecting radio waves transmitted by radar guns before the radio waves are close enough for the radar guns to determine how fast the vehicle was going.

It’s not illegal to have a radar detector in your vehicle as long as the radar detector is not accessible to anyone in the vehicle and is unplugged from any power source. It doesn’t depend on the model. Any type of radar detector is going to be illegal as long as it’s accessible to somebody in the vehicle.

If you are driving from a state where they are legal, you should put your radar detector in the trunk of your vehicle. As long as the radar detector doesn’t have power and is not accessible to anyone inside of the vehicle, then just having the radar detector is not going to be enough to charge somebody with an illegal radar detector.

Radar Jammers

A radar jammer is a device that works by jamming the police officer’s radar gun. It will cause the radar equipment to malfunction and not show any reading at all so that an officer trying to detect somebody’s speed will not know what speed the driver is going at. It is a similar concept to a radar detector because the point is to avoid being caught while speeding. These are not legal in Virginia.

Penalties for Radar Detector Possession

The penalty for having a radar detector is a fine. There are not demerit points or anything else awarded for this kind of violation. A Virginia police officer is allowed to take the device if he feels that he needs it as evidence, but when the trial is over, and if no longer needed as evidence, the officer should return it to the person who has been charged.

People should know that, in Virginia, there are more than just radar guns available to detect speeding. If law enforcement officers are using laser equipment or they’re pacing your vehicle and you think that you can get away with speeding since you have a radar detector, you could still receive a speeding ticket as well as a violation for having radar detector.

Biggest Mistakes to Avoid

It’s a mistake to not understand the law in Virginia about radar detectors. People often believe that they can unplug the radar detector and that’s enough. It is also a mistake to believe that the radar detector actually has to be functioning. The radar detector needs to be completely inaccessible to anyone inside of the vehicle including passengers. Also, it has to be turned off and disconnected from any power source.

This means that it’s possible for someone to be charged even if the detector is turned off but it’s in the backseat. They could also be charged if the detector is broken if it is accessible to someone in the vehicle.

Ways an Attorney Can Help

A lawyer in Virginia can help you get it back if you are charged with having a radar detector and it’s been confiscated. As long as it hasn’t been over six months since your case, it is easy to get your radar detector back. If six months have passed, however, it is okay for the court to destroy your radar detector.