How a State Trooper know which vehicle he clocked?

[VK56VD]

I've always wondered, especially at night when a State Trooper is sitting on the side of the road in the dark, on a four or five lane highway of how he knows which vehicle he clocked with his laser.

When the highway isn't clear and people fly by him at 70-80 mph, how does he know which vehicle to stop?

At that speed it's hard to tell what make and model flew by especially if the car is a dark color.

Does the laser tell him what lane the faster vehicle is traveling in?

How does the Trooper know which vehicle he needs to stop after catching up?

 

[AuthorEditor]

That's one reason never to travel in the high speed lane if you can help it. I suspect that 90% of the time that's where the trooper has his radar gun pointed, especially if there is lots of traffic.

 

[tomcat27]

it's all experience. after running radar for many hours/days - you can start to tell speeds just by looking at a car. I could usually guess within 2 mph when I was in practice.

certainly there are cases, in the dark if it takes too long to catch up, where there can be some.... opportunity for error. but once in pursuit you can track the speed of the car you are chasing - the radar gives the speed of the car you are following. laser, on the other had, is aimed specifically at one car and is almost impossible to beat with a radar/laser detector.

 

[eljefino]

Get the red one.

My two speeding tickets have both been situations where I couldn't claim it was someone else. If it's a whole mob of traffic I bet the cop would catch up and pace the "pack" and nail the guy still going what he was originally lasered at.

 

[VK56VD]

So a trooper can guage your speed with their radar even while they are moving?
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
it's all experience. after running radar for many hours/days - you can start to tell speeds just by looking at a car. I could usually guess within 2 mph when I was in practice.

certainly there are cases, in the dark if it takes too long to catch up, where there can be some.... opportunity for error. but once in pursuit you can track the speed of the car you are chasing - the radar gives the speed of the car you are following. laser, on the other had, is aimed specifically at one car and is almost impossible to beat with a radar/laser detector.

 

[tomcat27]

to be more specific, you dont really "aim" radar. you will get a reading on the largest target or the most reflective target. that's why it can take some "watching" to figure out which car/truck you are getting a reading on.

 

[tomcat27]

Originally Posted By: Spartuss
So a trooper can guage your speed with their radar even while they are moving?


absolutely yes. there are multiple displays on the radar unit - giving the speed of the patrol car and the speed of the target. it is smart enough caluculate the difference in speed of the car you are chasing, even though you are both going the same direction. if the patrol car is moving 100 mph and the target is moving at a differential speed of -20, then the radar will show the target as going 80.

 

[oilcoholic]

The law in SC is that the Trooper must make visible contact with the vehicle and then check the radar. Years ago I was a SCHP Trooper. In our Radar Certification we had to ride with an instructor and visually & mentally calculate how fast the car was going. After we told the instuctor the speed, he would "shoot" the target car. We had to get 9 out of 10 right within +/- 1 MPH to be certified to run radar. It is amazing how you can train yourself to gauge how fast a vehicle is traveling. Most officers I know today really concentrate on the flow of traffic at night and "who" is moving differently among the vehicles. Also, paying attention to as many details as one can get is practiced over and over in the Academy. That really helps with vehicle identity at night. However, sonme officers are better than others. It is a learned gift.

 

[tomcat27]

that's the beauty of radar, it can track speeds accurately from the front, side, rear, moving, stationary. laser (currently) requires that the patrol car be stationary and relatively inline (not from the side) although I'm sure that will change.

we ran exclusively K band radar. sometimes leaving it on all the time; sometimes in "ambush" mode.

 

[tomcat27]

Originally Posted By: oilcoholic
The law in SC is that the Trooper must make visible contact with the vehicle and then check the radar. Years ago I was a SCHP Trooper. In our Radar Certification we had to ride with an instructor and visually & mentally calculate how fast the car was going. After we told the instuctor the speed, he would "shoot" the target car. We had to get 9 out of 10 right within +/- 1 MPH to be certified to run radar. It is amazing how you can train yourself to gauge how fast a vehicle is traveling. Most officers I know today really concentrate on the flow of traffic at night and "who" is moving differently among the vehicles. Also, paying attention to as many details as one can get is practiced over and over in the Academy. That really helps with vehicle identity at night. However, sonme officers are better than others. It is a learned gift.


he said it more elequently and with more detail than I did. After some practice you can easily guess speeds within 1-2 MPH just by observation. the radar meerly confirms. (thanks Michigan)

 

[xxch4osxx]

Originally Posted By: Spartuss
So a trooper can guage your speed with their radar even while they are moving?
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
it's all experience. after running radar for many hours/days - you can start to tell speeds just by looking at a car. I could usually guess within 2 mph when I was in practice.

certainly there are cases, in the dark if it takes too long to catch up, where there can be some.... opportunity for error. but once in pursuit you can track the speed of the car you are chasing - the radar gives the speed of the car you are following. laser, on the other had, is aimed specifically at one car and is almost impossible to beat with a radar/laser detector.
Many cruisers are equipped with "moving radar" There is a radar dish facing to the rear in the rear window and a radar dish in the front facing forward. Here is a link describing a Genesis 2 direction radar unit: http://www.decaturradar.com/products/profile.php?id=8 They can get you on the move from the front going towards them or get you coming up behind them.

 

[Colt45ws]

I have errored out those moving radar units. I had a cop flip a U after I made a right turn at about 30MPH entry speed then went WOT to 60MPH. (55MPH limit)
He questioned the acceleration mostly, but also asked how I made that turn at 50MPH, which I absolutely did not. I suspect if I tried that turn at 50 I would have understeered straight off the road into the fence. He must have been catching something else though I have no idea what since it was just me, him, and the semi he was following very closely so he could hide out..

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: oilcoholic
In our Radar Certification we had to ride with an instructor and visually & mentally calculate how fast the car was going. After we told the instuctor the speed, he would "shoot" the target car. We had to get 9 out of 10 right within +/- 1 MPH to be certified to run radar.

That's pretty cool. Good to know there's some real training behind it, at least in SC.

 

[oilcoholic]

Did you know that before each shift the radar gun has to be tested and if it is not correct the gun cannot be used. In SC all officers have to do this and certify with their Commanding Officer that the unit is calibrated.All units are connected to computers so each test is recorded into a harddrive. If a unit fails a certain number of times it is removed from the cruiser. Can you tell me how it is done, with what instrument?

 

[Colt45ws]

Tuning fork.

 

[oilcoholic]

CORRECT!

 

[Chris142]

The CHP prides them selves by being able to tell your speed w/o a radar gun.

 

[L_Sludger]

While we have people in the law community posting in this thread, I want to ask - What does "targeted enforcement area" mean? Driving through Pennsylvania, you'd see that sign on the highways all the time.


(editorial) PA has an unbelievable amount of ridiculous 55mph zones - where neighboring states maintain them at 65mph - and charges a huge toll to go through the state, and to top it off, the roads are in awful shape.

 

[Trajan]

In a nutshell it means don't screw around because there are cops all over the place even though you may not see them.

I've seen people pulled over after they passed me by cops I never saw.

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: Trajan
In a nutshell it means don't screw around because there are cops all over the place even though you may not see them.


That's the copy/pasted response from yahoo answers, hahaha, I was hoping for a more original thought. Not a friendly state. Looking to rob passing motorists blind every step of the way.