Question on police radar

[Radardemon44]

can a police radar get you from the side?

[Incore]

Your question was a little vague... the cop car pointed sideways or hitting you from the side?
If the cop car is sideways the answer is yes they can hit you.
If your saying the cop is looking dead at you with the gun in his hands, make sure its not a real gun, and he's looking from the side of your car the answer is no. The radar/laser needs you to either be moving towards it or away from it. There is a thing called cosign error which means the greater the angle the cops radar is the more the speed displayed will be effected either positive or negative. Either way, officers can pull you over for a multitude of reasons so it's always a good idea to drive responsibly around them.

Stay safe and have fun. Hope that helped you.

[Radardemon44]

I meant like this

I got hit with i/o i was wondering if he can get
My speed

[Radardemon44]

Can
He get
My
Speed like that in the pic but only with his vehicle radar.

[Incore]

Yes, they can get your speed in that position. Most cases it would be laser or a hand held device.

[North Alabama]

Can't see the pic. Only away and toward the source of aim with off angles at a lower speed indication than actual. With a moving Leo, sometimes they will point the antenna can to their forward left some to target the up front passing head on auto with accurate target speed indication. The Leo's speed will be a slight lower moving speed thus making up for your off angle lower reading summing the 2 angles equal to read your accurate speed...

[zr1]

I meant like this

I got hit with i/o i was wondering if he can get
My speed

Yes, on the side of the road like that, they can get your speed via radar (or LIDAR) if they pull the trigger while you're still a little ways down the road and just aim their radar gun out the side window.



In the diagram:
Green line: This is a common shot and gives a fairly accurate speed. The LEO's reading might show just a couple MPH slower than your actual speed, this is called "cosine error." If the LEO was standing out in the middle of the road, then they'd have your actual speed, but since they are slightly offset, the cosine error is in your favor...slightly.

Orange line: If the LEO waits until you're almost at their location to pull the trigger, then the cosine error would show your speed as very slow and would not be accurate. But again..that's in your favor. But a LEO would not be trained to take this type of shot with the angle at about 45 degrees like this, they would be trained to take the radar shot while you're still much further down the road.

[VicRod74]

Radardemond44 I think you have a good question regarding radar accuracy facing parallel to traffic, but I'm going to agree with ZR1 on this one. Not unless the LEO has a handheld radar or lidar unit facing forward, away or at an good angle can they get a good read on your speed.

I'm no expert and anyone can correct me if i'm wrong, but If the LEOs have a car mounted unit (no handheld), then most likely they will have their vehicle positioned either facing direct or away from you. Not sideways.

[AvsBest]

Radardemond44 I think you have a good question regarding radar accuracy facing parallel to traffic, but I'm going to agree with ZR1 on this one. Not unless the LEO has a handheld radar or lidar unit facing forward, away or at an good angle can they get a good read on your speed.

I'm no expert and anyone can correct me if i'm wrong, but If the LEOs have a car mounted unit (no handheld), then most likely they will have their vehicle positioned either facing direct or away from you. Not sideways.

Correct. Some LEOs will angle their car a little bit to cut down the range but it won't be totally sideways. When they do that it is actually in your favor as they will get a lower speed than your actual speed but not by much. The bigger the angle, the bigger the difference in speeds. In most cases we are talking 1 to 5 mph difference depending on the angle.