Legal Question in Traffic Law in Wisconsin

I do not believe that there is any law which requires troopers to have radar inspected by a third party. However, as a matter of voluntary internal policy, the State Patrol usually requires them to check radar devices before and after every arrest, via a tuning fork which reproduces the same "sound," i.e., microwave signal, as doppler radar clocking a vehicle at a preset speed. For moving radar, the Hanson case also requires the additional step of verification of the radar device immediately after clocking any vehicle whose driver is arrested for speeding. This is done by clocking the ground beneath the police cruiser, which reflects the speed at which the squad car is moving. The officer then compares that reading to the speed noted on his certified speedometer and records the result. In the Hanson case, the WI Supreme Court required this extra step after it took judicial notice of the fact that moving radar is the least reliable type, therefore requiring this extra safeguard. However, the fact is that all radars are unreliable due to the fact that they do not clearly identify the object which being clocked, but instead, only clocks whatever object is reflecting a signal back from its beam, without providing the make, size, color, etc., of the vehicle which is supposedly being clocked. If any car is close to other vehicles when clocked, it is therefore often impossible to tell which vehicle is being clocked. Clocking some car or other object (i.e., aircraft, road signs, cornfields, etc.) other than the one which the officer is attempting to clock is a far more common cause of wrongful citations than any inaccuracies internal to the radar device itself. Some radars have a range of miles, so it is always possible for the officer to overshoot his intended target and instead clock some distant vehicle which is in line with the intended one. If you are serious about fighting any ticket, however (even valid ones), your odds of success are much better with an experienced traffic lawyer.

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I do not believe that there is any law which requires troopers to have radar inspected by a third party. However, as a matter of voluntary internal policy, the State Patrol usually requires them to check radar devices before and after every arrest, via a tuning fork which reproduces the same "sound," i.e., microwave signal, as doppler radar clocking a vehicle at a preset speed. For moving radar, the Hanson case also requires the additional step of verification of the radar device immediately after clocking any vehicle whose driver is arrested for speeding. This is done by clocking the ground beneath the police cruiser, which reflects the speed at which the squad car is moving. The officer then compares that reading to the speed noted on his certified speedometer and records the result. In the Hanson case, the WI Supreme Court required this extra step after it took judicial notice of the fact that moving radar is the least reliable type, therefore requiring this extra safeguard. However, the fact is that all radars are unreliable due to the fact that they do not clearly identify the object which being clocked, but instead, only clocks whatever object is reflecting a signal back from its beam, without providing the make, size, color, etc., of the vehicle which is supposedly being clocked. If any car is close to other vehicles when clocked, it is therefore often impossible to tell which vehicle is being clocked. Clocking some car or other object (i.e., aircraft, road signs, cornfields, etc.) other than the one which the officer is attempting to clock is a far more common cause of wrongful citations than any inaccuracies internal to the radar device itself. Some radars have a range of miles, so it is always possible for the officer to overshoot his intended target and instead clock some distant vehicle which is in line with the intended one. If you are serious about fighting any ticket, however (even valid ones), your odds of success are much better with an experienced traffic lawyer.

If any answer helps you, mine or someone else's, please mark it as "helpful" or "best answer" to help AVVO know which answers to show others. Answering this question does not make me your attorney, but you can post comments here for clarifications, etc. You can also see past answers to similar questions on AVVO at. View over fifteen years of past answers at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html?sort=recency. See 15 years of past answers at http://www.lawguru.com/answers/atty_profile/view_attorney_profile/jknixon . Answers may contain attorney advertising materials. ..