Hand Held Speed Gun: Should Ticket be Issued On the Spot?

Q.

If the police are using a hand held gun, do they need to pull you over at the time to issue you a ticket, or can they do it subsequently?

A.

Over the last few years, hand-held speed guns have received a pretty bad reputation for giving false readings and for being generally inaccurate and easily subverted with different tactics - each with a varying degree of success. There are so many different things that are alleged to interfere with the hand-held radar guns that there are whole internet sites devoted to them and whether they actually work or not falls into the category of urban myth.

However despite all the bad press often aimed at hand-held speed radars, they remain very popular with some local police forces who are keen to be seen using the 'hairdryer' device while standing at the side of the road.

With an average range of 600 meters, the police officers using the radar device will need to be pretty close to any passing car to take a reading - and the further away they are, the more the reading can be interfered with by different elements such as the wind speeds and road conditions. The optimum distance is thought to be around 300 meters away, so the officers will stand as close to the road they are monitoring that it is safe to do so. Generally this means that unlike some traffic cameras, if you are measured by a police radar gun it is likely that you will know it has happened.

As part of the reason for using these radar guns is to show motorists on that stretch of road that their speed is being monitored, if it is safe to stop someone who has been caught speeding and issue a fixed penalty notice on the spot, then the police will usually choose this option. However it is always possible that if it is dangerous to other road users or police officers to stop an offending vehicle at the roadside, than a summons can be issued to the address of the registered keeper after the event. Because the preference is a fixed penalty, in most cases, if you aren't stopped on the spot then you're probably okay. It's not a certainty though, so if you think you might have been speeding, you'll just have to wait it out.

If you do receive a summons it will be party to the usual time restraints, and if the registered keeper or driver (if different) wish to contend the ticket or any of the details on it, then they can do so following the usual route detailed on the back of the NIP.

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