6/3/2021
How do Texas police officers track your speed, and can their readings ever be wrong? Let’s look at three of the most common speed-tracking methods and discuss potential flaws.
1. Radar Guns
For a police officer to track your speed using radar detection, you must be in the officer’s line of sight for the radio signals to bounce off of your vehicle. There are two types of radar that Texas law enforcement use to track speed: stationary radar and moving radar.
- Stationary Radar: You will often see police officers parked on the side of the road holding a hand-held radar gun. Radar guns can work up to 1,000 feet away, but a practical range is less than 700 feet.
- Moving Radar: Police officers can also track speed of oncoming vehicles while driving. The radar registers the speed of the officer’s vehicle while also catching the speed of the approaching vehicle. So if you see a police car drive by on the opposite side of the road, do not assume that he isn’t tracking your speed.
Now, inaccurate readings are of course possible. The radar beam being transmitting from the device can hit two vehicles, as the beam width is two lanes wide. This malfunction is most likely if your vehicle is bigger than the one next to you.
Weather can also yield inaccurate readings. Heavy rain, wind, and even pre-storm electrical charges in the atmosphere can cause radar malfunctions.
2. LiDAR (Light Detection & Ranging)
A LiDAR gun is extremely accurate and most often used by police in a stationary position. Police officers use the LIDAR to target a single vehicle at a time. When the trigger is pulled, the speed reading is almost immediate.
But for the reading to be accurate, the officer has to hold the laser at a reflective spot of the vehicle for a certain period of time. If he or she aims at a non-reflective area, it can produce inaccurate readings. The LIDAR gun must also remain stationary. If it moves at all, it can malfunction.
3. Pacing
Many police officers in Texas use a method called “pacing” to track your speed. They will follow you while moving at a constant speed and use their speedometer to get an idea of how fast you’re going. There is no radar or laser beam; simply an estimate of your speed.
Some police officers tend to stay further back as to not alert the driver they’re pacing. But this also makes it more difficult to produce an accurate reading.
Want to Fight a Speeding Ticket?
One thing we should point out is that a police officer should first visually witness a vehicle speeding before using any form of radar speed detection. Radar should not be the primary means of enforcement.
With that said, if you’ve been issued a speeding ticket, you can absolutely fight it. No speed-tracking device or method is perfect, and Texas law enforcement can make mistakes.
Jeff Brown is a Fort Worth traffic ticket attorney, and he will be your advocate. He knows the Texas traffic laws inside and out and has helped numerous individuals successfully fight speeding tickets.
