Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Radar guns and their efficiency have always been an extremely debated topic, because no one is ever sure how accurate they are.
As you know, there are many types of radar guns, and all work on a similar principle. A radar gun launches a beam of electromagnetic waves at a moving object. On hitting the object the waves are reflected back toward a detector on the gun, which then calculates the speed of the object by analyzing the nature of the reflected beam.
The controversy surrounding radar guns hides in their measurement reliability. There are some different sources of error, which can easily affect the showing. I can name at least three of them, but I'm sure there much more.
1. Gun calibration
2. Angle of your moving car vs the police car with a radar gun in it
3. Point of measurement
Of course you need to make sure that you're driving the speed limit, but when suddenly stopped by a police oficer with a hand-held police radar gun, don't panic, remember this lesson, and try to find out the truth.