got a ticket

What is the name of your state? california

i got pulled over, and the officer just told me i was driving at an unsafe speed. because of his location i didnt think he could radar me, so i didnt bother asking. later i looked at the ticket and he noted radar but there really was no way he could even point the radar gun at me. is it possible for radar guns to detect speed through parked cars (blocked view)?
also he didnt write the gun# or date of last calibration, how can i go about getting when he last calibrated the gun?

Originally posted by sexzee
What is the name of your state? california

i got pulled over, and the officer just told me i was driving at an unsafe speed. because of his location i didnt think he could radar me, so i didnt bother asking. later i looked at the ticket and he noted radar but there really was no way he could even point the radar gun at me. is it possible for radar guns to detect speed through parked cars (blocked view)?
also he didnt write the gun# or date of last calibration, how can i go about getting when he last calibrated the gun?

Yes it is possible to use a hand held radar through parked cars

Radar gun # doesnt need to be written on the ticket along with the calibration. Thats usually brought into court when you go to court.

Ok, loocpoc, just how do you propose that microwaves are going to travel through a parked car?????

Last time I checked microwaves can not, in any way, penetrate steel.

I believe that he ment that the radar can go through the glass windows.

Originally posted by curt7974
Ok, loocpoc, just how do you propose that microwaves are going to travel through a parked car?????

Last time I checked microwaves can not, in any way, penetrate steel.

Through glass and if the radar unit is handheld it can be pointed over the hood of a parked vehicle.

Sounds like a lot of B.S. to me. From everything I've read (including manufaturers specifications) Radar is quite ineffective at taking a reading from a vehicle unless the radar is aimed directly at the vehicle, with nothing in between. Radar does not work when aimed perpendicular to the direction of travel of the subject vehicle. Doppler effect is only going to be present on objects travelling to or away from the radar gun.
The narrowest beam width of radar in use by law enforcement is 8 degrees. At 8 degrees from the source the beam width is 38 feet wide at a hundred yards, 76 feet wide at two hundred yards, and so on. At two hundred yards you could cover all four lanes of a divided highway, including the median. The range of even the lowest power radar is a half a mile.
Why it's use is even still allowed, I don't know. Obviously, radar is subject to many environmental variables. Before using it the officer should make sure there are no other vehicles within sight other than the target vehicle, nothing in between the source and target, and no adverse weather (rain, snow, heavy fog, etc.) as microwaves do not travel well through water.

Microwaves do travel through glass when it is clean. The possibility of the cars in a lot at this time of year to have clean windows is very slim, not to mention whether the officer in question cleaned his window first.

If the officer invloved in this case is going to tell the judge that he got his radar reading throug the windows of a parked car, he might as well throw out the ticket now.

well heres a map of how the situation happened.
i really couldnt do 45 mph when i'm approaching stopped vehicles less than 20 ft away
and since the officer himself was moving from a completely blind drive way.. he really couldnt see me untill i crossed his path.
hope the map helps make sense..

and by the way, i'm a she not a he.

image codes are off i guess. heres a link.

http://www.forumpix.com/misc/map.jpg

I dug out my Michigan Speed task force book so I hope this sheds light on the situation. Radar does NOT use microwaves however uses radio waves (why it makes that funky noise)

Radar beam characteristics:

Reflected by metal,stone,wood,concrete etc.

Absorbed by leaves,grass,loose sand, earth etc..

Refracted (bent in passing through a substance) through glass, certain plastics


Beam width in most radar units is anywhere from 12 to 24 degrees and the range for most models is half of a mile.

Curt, it is possible to use a HANDHELD unit and shoot through the windows of parked cars. I suggest you get your state's law enforcement radar training manuel and read it.