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Legislation Aims To Make Radar Detector Illegal
by Lauren Woods
Road safety has always been one of the foremost concerns of the government. In order to protect the motoring public, the government needs to implement laws which are aimed to promote the safety of road bound citizens. That is why speed limits have been set and are being enforced. It is one of the many ways to keep city streets and wide open highways safe for everyone. In order to enforce the speed limit on motorists, law enforcement agencies uses radar guns to know the speeds of vehicles on the country's roads. This makes the task easier for them to apprehend those who are traveling at a greater speed than what is required.
But with the advent of technology, the use of a device that absorbs or jams these radar guns are invented. They are the favorite toys of those who want to push their cars to the limit - well over the speed requirement. Some territories prohibit the use of devices of this kind. In Florida though, the step to ban these radar detectors has just begun.
Recently, the National Safety Commission commended the proposed bill that will ban the use of radar detectors on the roads of Florida. The proposed legislation is aimed to protect the general public from irresponsible drivers who think that they are above the law by breaking the speed limit and get away with it.
The legislation is sponsored by Senator Steve Oelrich of Gainesville. If the bill should be passed, the possession of a radar detector will be a secondary traffic violation. This means that if a motorist is pulled over for a violation, he or she can be ticketed for possession of a radar detector. This legislation will make irresponsible motorists think twice about using a radar detector in their vehicles.
Ken Underwood, the President of the National Safety Commission, has this to say about the proposed legislation: "This bill is a positive step to protect Florida families on roads and highways from speeding drivers." Since the legislation will prohibit the use of radar detectors, this will reduce the number of irresponsible speeding drivers. This in turn will help reduce the number of accidents caused by speeding motorists.
"Radar detectors give drivers a false sense of security that they can speed as much as they want without facing the consequences of breaking the law," says Underwood. "Speed limits are important because they are proven to help prevent accidents and save lives, and using a radar detector encourages people to drive at unsafe speeds," he added further.
The legislation is the answer to the large number of accidents that happened in the state due to excessive speeds. In 2005 alone, there are more than 380 fatalities in accidents which primary cause is excessive speed. This figure comes straight from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' statistics. The state is just the tenth state to attempt to prohibit the use of radar detectors on their roads. Some of the states that already ban the use of these devices are Illinois and Virginia.
The use of these devices on cars is dangerous because drivers knows that they cannot be caught over speeding since they can jam or absorb the signals emitted by radar guns which traffic law enforcement agencies use. With that knowledge, they can push their cars to excessive speed, much more than the speed limit especially if their cars are equipped with aftermarket performance enhancing parts like a Subaru cold air intake system. Therefore, it is just logical to prevent the use of these devices and to punish those who are caught with this kind of device.
About the Author
Given her background on cars as an auto insurance director, Lauren Woods finds the world of cars to be constantly changing.
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