Methods Used to Catch Speeding Offenders in Virginia Beach

Law enforcement officers in Virginia routinely monitor traffic and use a variety or methods to tell if you are speeding including the use of RADAR and LIDAR equipment, by setting up speed traps using these equipment, by using traffic cameras, and also by pacing vehicles if they suspect they are speeding. Read below to learn more about these and more tools used by law enforcement to catch speeding offenders, and then call a Virginia Beach speeding ticket lawyer to discuss your case.

Use of RADAR Tools to Detect Speeding in Virginia

One common method used to detect speeders in Virginia is RADAR and LIDAR equipment.

Both are similar except LIDAR  uses Laser and it is little more modern and more accurate. However, both of these are considered to be very, very accurate in Virginia and as long as the officer can show that his equipment has been properly calibrated by presenting proper calibration certificates in court the court is going to accept these readings as reliable and accurate.

If for some reason the officer didn’t get a certificate, the certificate itself has some improper information or is done incorrectly then this is a prime opportunity for the defense to examine the police officer about it. A lot of times it results in the dismissal of the conviction of the charges.

While the RADAR and LIDAR instruments are definitely considered by the court to be extremely accurate there still are issues with these in court. It is difficult to prove in court, but many times attorneys can get the officer to admit during cross-examination that there may have been the slight possibility that the RADAR or LIDAR locked on to the wrong object. This kind of reasonable doubt is further evidence that the case can be reduced or dismissed by.

What is Pacing and How is it Used in Virginia Speeding Cases?

In Virginia speeding cases pacing is a method that law enforcement officers use to track somebody’s speed. If an officer is pacing a vehicle he will first target a vehicle, get behind the vehicle, try to match the speed for a significant amount of time so that he can be sure about the correct speed and then the officer looks at his own speedometer and that is the speed that he says that the driver was going.

There are a lot of issues with this because it is so prone to human error and it is very hard to prove that the error wasn’t there. The officer could have been gaining speed and then accidentally believed that the speed he was going was what the driver was going while in fact the officer’s speed was faster or the officer’s own equipment like the speedometer could be completely wrong and then he is using an incorrect device to clock somebody’s speed.

It is really important in court to take apart the officer’s testimony and ask as many questions as possible to make sure that it is completely clear and accurate as to how exactly the officer is able to determine the speed.