Can You Challenge the Accuracy of a Radar Gun in Maryland?

There’s nothing quite as intimidating as seeing police lights in your rearview mirror. If you get pulled over for allegedly speeding, you may come away from an encounter with the cops facing a speeding ticket. While you can challenge these tickets in court, it can be difficult to know what arguments you can make in your own favor.

The good news is that a police officer’s radar gun isn’t always as accurate as officers think they are. As such, you can request that a police officer assess the functionality of their radar gun after you’ve been charged with speeding.

Radar Guns Can Inaccurately Represent Your Speed

Radar guns are not infallible devices. They can fall victim to the effects of the weather and even mechanical malfunctions. If something goes amiss with a police officer’s radar gun, a record of your car’s speed may be inaccurate—and your speeding ticket may be unwarranted.

More specifically, radar guns assess your speed by using radio waves to measure the distance between the gun itself and your car. The radar can then perform the necessary equations to estimate your car’s speed. If the radar gun hasn’t been appropriately calibrated or if something gets in the way of those radio waves, the gun’s reading can be inaccurate.

Some police officers may not even understand how to use their radar guns. If this is the case, then you may have the grounds to blame a false speed reading on a police officer’s user error.

How to Challenge a Speeding Ticket in Maryland

Maryland is somewhat generous with the consequences it assigns to speeding tickets. In most cases, first-time offenders may have to pay a fine but will not face jail time. If you’re not able to pay the fine associated with a speeding ticket,  You can request a payment plan.

However, you can challenge a speeding charge if one is brought against you. The sooner you can get this charge off of your record, the happier your insurance company is going to be. You can specifically challenge these charges by:

Demanding a Calibration Certificate

Over time, a radar gun can begin to suffer the same wear and tear as any other well-loved tool. In some cases, a radar gun may not be appropriately calibrated at the time it detects your alleged speeding. If you suspect this may be the case, you can demand that an attending police officer complete a calibration certification.

If the results of the certification reveal that the radar gun was not in ideal condition at the time you received your ticket, you may request that a court dismiss the speeding charge brought against you.

Demand to see the officer’s current certification to operate the Radar unit.

Referring to Relevant Weather Records

Rain, snow, and fog can all disrupt the radio waves that police officers use to detect your car’s alleged speed. If the weather on the day of your ticket was particularly poor, you can argue that those conditions interfered with the radar’s ability to detect your speed.

Talk to Our Maryland Traffic Violation Attorney About Your Speeding Ticket Today

Speeding charges are more than just a hassle to deal with. If you don’t address these charges in court, you can see your car insurance premiums start to skyrocket. To avoid unnecessarily high payments and potential jail time for serious and repeated offenses, you can collaborate with our traffic offense lawyers at The Law Office of Hillel Traub.

Hillel Traub, a former lawyer from MVA, has a proven track record of resolving cases like yours. Contact us at (410) 580-1100 today or fill out our contact form to arrange a free consultation.