Os detectores de radar são legais no estado de Washington?

Os detectores de radar são dispositivos eletrônicos usados por motoristas para determinar se sua velocidade está sendo monitorada pelas autoridades policiais por meio de um radar. A ideia por trás do dispositivo é que, assim que o motorista souber que está sendo verificado pelo radar, poderá ajustar a velocidade rapidamente para evitar uma multa. Eles trabalham passivamente, simplesmente captando o radar e não requerem nenhum tipo de monitoramento ativo. Os detectores de radar são vendidos online e em muitas lojas e são usados por milhões de americanos todos os dias. No entanto, eles são legais no estado de Washington?

Short answer – yes. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), radar detectors are permitted in passenger/private vehicles, but prohibited for use by commercial vehicles within the state of Washington.

To better understand why radar detectors are legal in Washington, as well as whether they are legal in other states, you have to go to the source — the Communications Act of 1934.  The act helped organize federal regulations of telephones, telegraphs, and radio communications. As a federal regulation, it also set a baseline set of instructions for using these technologies that applied to all states. Additionally, it created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to oversee these industries, but also provided states the freedom to be stricter in their management of them. This act has been occasionally updated to include new communication technologies, such as different forms of broadcasts, cable, and satellite television.

As time passed and technology changed, the act was modified. It has established that radar detectors are generally legal in private vehicles — with some exceptions of course. One large exception applies to commercial vehicles over 10,000 pounds, which makes radar detectors illegal everywhere under the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) regulation. Any driver found operating a radar detector in a commercial vehicle is subject to ticketing and/or license suspensions.

Além disso, devido a este ato, é contra a lei as autoridades apreender ou destruir seu dispositivo sem prendê-lo por outro crime. Afinal, é sua propriedade pessoal.

No entanto, embora tenhamos estabelecido que geralmente é legal possuir um detector de radar, nem sempre é legal usá-los. Certos estados como Virgínia e Washington DC chegaram ao ponto de aprovar leis proibindo especialmente seu uso. Aqueles que forem pegos operando um detector de radar estão sujeitos a multas Também é geralmente ilegal usar um detector de radar enquanto em uma instalação militar. A maioria das instalações militares pedirá ao motorista para remover o dispositivo e mantê-lo fora da vista enquanto estiver na base.

Some states also have rules about the legality of where the radar detector is mounted. California and Minnesota, for example, have laws against attaching anything to the windshield that could impair the driver’s vision, including radar detectors. Other states have similar rules, but may not be as strictly enforced. It is generally recommended that if you are crossing state lines, to keep the radar detector off the windshield and instead mounted on the sun visor or dash.

One key distinction to note is that while radar detectors are generally legal, radar jammers are illegal under federal law. Radar jammers are unique in that they don’t just detect the use of a radar detector, but they also overpower the radar detector fired by law enforcement. Those found using a radar jammer could face felony charges, large fines, and even jail time.

Similar to RADAR, is a technology called “LIDAR” which is increasingly being adopted by law enforcement to measure the speed of vehicles. To alert drivers when this new technology is being used, LIDAR detectors and laser jammers are now on the market. LIDAR detectors are not usually as effective as radar detectors, because the emissions they look for are less frequent, more focused, and more difficult to scatter than radar. All of these reasons give drivers less time to react if their LIDAR detector alerts them of a LIDAR device, or may never even detect the beam of the laser if it is pointed at a part of a vehicle where the sensor cannot detect it.

Because they are not as easily detected, the more effective method is to jam them. However, unlike radar jammers, laser jammers are currently in a grey area with the FCC. Several states have already made them illegal — specifically California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

Para os motoristas que residem no estado de Washington, você pode possuir e operar seu detector de radar sem medo em seu veículo pessoal / particular. Ao cruzar as linhas de estado, no entanto, tome cuidado com sua localização e a legalidade de uso de acordo com o estado específico.