My buddy and I were going to visit a friend at school. Maybe going a little fast. HP cought up to me and cited me for 75 in a 60 and actually confiscated my radar detector. Is that even legal? I mean, it wasn’t even working and hadn’t been used for years. I just happened never to remove it. I’m kind of a hoarder I guess. I don’t really care about that but can anyone tell me about the speeding ticket? I don’t need any points and my insurance is already too high!
The law on radar detectors is as follows:
§ 46.2-1079. Radar detectors; demerit points not to be awarded.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle on the highways of the Commonwealth when such vehicle is equipped with any device or mechanism, passive or active, to detect or purposefully interfere with or diminish the measurement capabilities of any radar, laser, or other device or mechanism employed by law-enforcement personnel to measure the speed of motor vehicles on the highways of the Commonwealth for law-enforcement purposes. It shall be unlawful to use any such device or mechanism on any such motor vehicle on the highways. It shall be unlawful to sell any such device or mechanism in the Commonwealth. However, provisions of this section shall not apply to any receiver of radio waves utilized for lawful purposes to receive any signal from a frequency lawfully licensed by any state or federal agency.
This section shall not be construed to authorize the forfeiture to the Commonwealth of any such device or mechanism. Any such device or mechanism may be taken by the arresting officer if needed as evidence, and, when no longer needed, shall be returned to the person charged with a violation of this section, or at that person’s request, and his expense, mailed to an address specified by him. Any unclaimed devices may be destroyed on court order after six months have elapsed from the final date for filing an appeal.
Except as provided in subsection B of this section, the presence of any such prohibited device or mechanism in or on a motor vehicle on the highways of the Commonwealth shall constitute prima facie evidence of the violation of this section. The Commonwealth need not prove that the device or mechanism in question was in an operative condition or being operated.
B. A person shall not be guilty of a violation of this section when the device or mechanism in question, at the time of the alleged offense, had no power source and was not readily accessible for use by the driver or any passenger in the vehicle….
Section D goes on to say that possession of a radar detector does not result in points on the driving record in and of itself. With regards to the speeding ticket, 75 in a 60 is an offense of “speeding less than than 19 miles over the limit”, which is a four point offense in Virginia, but points would be assessed with the same number of points an equivalent offense in your home state.
