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From: hrs@homxb.UUCP (H.SILBIGER)
Newsgroups: net.auto,net.legal
Subject: Re: Radar Surveillance
Message-ID: <719@homxb.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Aug-85 15:12:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: homxb.719
Posted: Wed Aug 14 15:12:22 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 02:05:58 EDT
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While I am a fundamentalist on the constitution and the bill

of rights, I don't see why the use of radar guns is any different
from the use of stopwatches, motion detectors, and calibrated
speedometers.

The fact that every car's speed is measured is also not relevant.
A police officer may be at a stop sign, and watch evrey car
that passes. If a car comes by ansd does not stop, a ticket
is issued. Would you claim that this is also unconstitutional?
This situation is totally analogous to setting the radar gun
to give an alert when a car exceeds 55 mph on a 55 mph limit road.

As far as posession of a radar detector being illegal, in
spite of the seller's claim that it is to be used for the
prevention of disease only (sorry, that was another product)
for the alerting of inadvertant speeding only, that is just
so much verbiage. The fact is that if you don't exceed the
speed limit, you don't need a detector.

In NJ and most states it is illegal to possess burglary tools.
The reason is that they are for committing burglaries, an
illegal act. It seems to me that possessing a radar detector
is for committing speeding.

I do not own a radar detector, because I think it would 
encourage me to speed. I do use a cruise control.
I do move with traffic when most of it is exceeding the
55 mph limit, to do otherwise would be foolish and unsafe.

I am not in favor of a law banning radar detectors. These
can easily be concealed, making it difficult to enforce,
Such laws only encourage breaking them, and probably would
not reduce speeding.

Herman Silbiger ihnp4!homxb!hrs