Nobody wants to get an expensive California speeding ticket. At the same time, nobody wants to be the only driver who obeys an unrealistically slow speed limit. When other cars are whizzing down the freeway in the passing lane, the temptation to speed may be too great to resist.
If a police officer with a radar unit accuses you of speeding, you need a traffic ticket expert who understands how to challenge the reliability of radar. Some drivers try to avoid speeding tickets by using a radar detector or a radar jammer. Before you make that choice, you should understand California’s laws so you do not get a different kind of ticket.
Radar detectors
A good radar detector with both a front and rear antenna can give you advance warning that the police are using radar. If you get the warning soon enough, you can slow down to avoid a speeding ticket.
Some police departments use “pulse” or “instant on” radar. Instead of leaving the radar on (which gives you plenty of time to detect it), the police point the radar at a car that is suspected of speeding, activate it to get a speed reading, and then turn it off again. If the radar is pointed at you, the warning you receive from your radar detector will come too late to allow you to slow down. If you are lucky, however, your detector will pick up the radar as the police point it at cars ahead of you.
Many police departments have switched from radar to laser. Good radar detectors also detect laser, but they work in the same way as pulse radar. Since they are not always on, you will only detect a laser in time to reduce your speed if the laser is pointed at a vehicle ahead of you.
California Traffic Law
A couple of states have made it illegal to use a radar detector in a moving vehicle. Fortunately, California is not one of those. As long as you are not driving on a military base or driving a commercial vehicle that weighs more than 10,000 pounds, you can legally use a radar detector in California.
Unfortunately, it is illegal to mount your radar detector on your windshield in California. You can have a radar detector on your dashboard, but radar detectors tend to be more effective when they are mounted in the middle of the windshield.
The short answer is that you might be able to avoid some speeding tickets by using a radar detector in California. If you speed regularly, however, you will probably need the services of a traffic ticket expert to help you avoid large fines and points that might lead to a driver’s license suspension.
Radar and laser jammers
Unlike a radar detector, a jammer actually interferes with the police radar. Instead of reflecting a radar signal that lets the radar measure speed, a jammer assures that gibberish is sent back to the radar unit. Unfortunately, since radar jammers can interfere with equipment used by airports, they are illegal both federal and California law.
Federal law does not prohibit laser jammers, but California law does. If you get caught using a radar or a laser jammer in California, you will need to have a traffic ticket expert help you with the hefty ticket an officer will hand you.