Some people use radar detectors to prevent themselves from getting caught speeding. These devices are illegal in some states, so getting caught possessing one may result in fines and/or prosecution, not to mention the consequences of getting a speeding ticket.

Keep in mind that exceeding the speed limit is against the law and potentially dangerous. Speeding may not be worth the risk. The police are increasingly becoming equipped with speed detection technology that cannot be detected by radar detectors. Radar is radio or electromagnetic waves that travel through air.

When the waves hit an object, they bounce back to the object from which they were transmitted. The distance from the object can thus be determined. Radar detectors pick up the radio signals that police radar devices transmit, and let you know that the police are tracking you while you still have enough time to slow down.

Radar detectors are best when the police are not directly targeting you, and they don’t work if the police officer is right behind you with a radar gun, or if the officer is pointing the radar gun directly at your car from the front. Radar detectors are useless in such cases, because the radio waves the speed detection devices are sending cannot be read by your radar detector.

New features are being offered in radar detectors. Some radar detectors have the ability to jam signals. Radar detectors with the jamming feature will detect the radio signal, alert you to the signal, then return the signal to the police as a mixed signal. The result is that your speed cannot be detected. Keep in mind, the police have access to this feature as well, so they can jam the signal of your radar detector, and send you a mixed signal.

Police can now use lidar guns, which use highly accurate laser technology, to bypass traditional radar detectors. These laser signals bounce off cars and return to the police device. It takes multiple measurements within mere seconds, then determines the average of the measurements to establish the car’s speed. Traditional radar detectors are not equipped to detect lidar guns.

As police switch to radar guns, radar detectors become less useful. The makers of radar detectors will keep innovating, and will offer better means for preventing the police from doing their jobs of patrolling the highways. Of course, it will follow that the police will turn to new technologies to bypass radar detectors and catch speeders. Always make safe, well-reasoned, and well-informed decisions when you drive.