Sandra: Recently, my mother failed to put her current insurance card in the car, and she is fearful of driving without it. I initially thought she did not have it, but I was uncertain whether she would be violating any laws if she could not present it. Is it against the law to drive with an expired insurance card?
Presently, police require individuals to show a valid insurance card, which can be displayed on a mobile device or as a photograph. In situations where a parent’s insurance card is expired, many law enforcement agencies are connected to the state insurance system, allowing for immediate verification of a vehicle's insurance status. If the police can confirm the validity of the insurance through this system, it is not necessary to issue a citation.
Ty: Acknowledging that it is legal to own a radar detector in Texas, are there any devices that cannot be operated in conjunction with a vehicle's radar detector?
Yes, there are devices called radar jammers or laser jammer that are completely illegal in Texas. The Texas Traffic Code states: (b) No person shall use, attempt to use, install, operate, or attempt to operate a radar jammer in a motor vehicle except when a law enforcement officer is performing his or her official duties. So, in Texas, if you have a radar jammer, it's best to keep it on your bookshelf at home next to your best read novel! These radar signal jammers cannot be legally purchased anywhere in Texas. Because the statute further states: (c) No person shall purchase, sell, or offer for sale a radar jamming device. Of course, these devices are only for the benefit of extreme speed offenders. Drivers need to be notified that these devices may not work as advertised. Thank you, life would be a lot simpler if we followed the law.
Asks: I pray every day for the protection of all police officers. I know you have a dangerous job, looking out for the safety and welfare of all citizens, not just those in your local community, but those throughout the state of Texas. I have parking problems on the street every day. As I was trying to back out of my driveway, there was a car parked directly behind my driveway across the street. I had previously spoken to my neighbor about parking issues. I don't want to cause trouble for anyone by parking improperly. What to do? What violation is this?
Parking issues have been an ongoing problem, and your dilemma, as well as many others, should be addressed. First, I must remind you that your neighbor did nothing wrong when they parked their car on the other side of the street behind your driveway. I understand the stress and difficulty that it can take to carefully pull out of a driveway, but the law does not require drivers to park any differently. Your best conclusion is to continue talking to your neighbors, and rather than asking them to do it, you would appreciate them not parking there because you don't want to damage anyone's vehicle. Keep in mind that if you hit one of these vehicles while backing up, you could be charged for unsafe backing. That being said, if you can't back up safely, don't back up.
The driver who installed a laser jamming device in his work van to evade speeding tickets has been issued a suspended jail sentence, fined £3000, and subjected to a two-month curfew.
After fitting a Laser Star jamming device to a VW Transporter van, Jason Moore was convicted of perverting the course of justice by a jury at Swansea Crown Court for obstructing a laser speed camera operator from Dyfed-Powys Police in establishing the speed of the vehicle.
The court was told by James Hartson, the prosecutor, that in September 2018, the van was observed driving at high speed as it approached the speed camera located near Nantyci Showground on the A40, St Clears, approaching Camarthen.
When trying to determine the speed of the vehicle, the camera operator encountered an error message on the device. However, the operator had been trained by experts at Road Safety Support to identify the unusual circumstances that could lead to the appearance of this error message.
Dyfed-Powys Police, as members of Road Safety Support, sought the expertise of Steve Callaghan, the company's forensic video analyst and laser jammers specialist, for assistance.
Mr. Callaghan was sent a copy of the video and confirmed the visibility of a suspect device in the video images. Additionally, he noticed that the laser signal jammers was flashing light from the van's grille while error messages were being produced by the laser speedmeter.
After Mr. Callaghan's preliminary examination and recommendations to Dyfed-Powys Police, the van was recovered to enable testing of the device and evidence recovery.
A detailed report was prepared, documenting the examination findings and the circumstances surrounding the incident, during which the speed reading was inconclusive. Road Safety Support ascertained that the van was traveling at a speed of 72 mph, exceeding its maximum permitted speed of 60 mph.
Mr. Moore declared that he was not aware of the Laser Star jamming system's ability to block the speed measurement function of a police speedmeter. He maintained that he had bought the device specifically for its parking sensor function.
Mr. Moore assigned David Winstanley, a retired police collision investigator, who stated his proficiency in laser and video systems, to serve as his expert witness.
The viewpoint put forth by Mr. Winstanley was that the Laser Star should be positioned as a 'parking sensor' rather than being predominantly seen as a laser jamming device.
Mr. Callaghan responded by stating that the use of a laser beam to detect parking obstructions was completely inappropriate and largely ineffective. He pointed out that a parking sensor does not need to be set to disrupt a laser speedmeter. Furthermore, the Laser Star is advertised as being able to disrupt speed cameras in its instructions and marketing materials, a feature that is not associated with a parking sensor.
Additionally, Mr. Moore highlighted in his defense that the security company he was affiliated with insisted that employees bear the costs of any damage inflicted on work vehicles. He stated that he implemented the device to reduce the likelihood of damage.
On October 18, 2021, Moore was convicted by a jury and subsequently sentenced at Swansea Crown Court.
Moore's defense was deemed as invalid by Judge Vosper QC, who expressed no surprise at the jury's decision to reject it.
Moore's sentence entails 32 weeks of custody, which has been suspended for a duration of 2 years. Furthermore, he has been instructed to settle costs and fines totaling £3,000, and a curfew lasting two months has been imposed.
Can police tell if you have a laser jammer?
A lidar gun employed by the police to target a vehicle may display an error message of either "no response" or cosine error. In the presence of such an error, the police officers are left unaware of whether the vehicle is equipped with a laser jammer or if they have simply misdirected their aim. As a result, this grants the driver an opportunity to adjust their speed before the police can retrieve the data once more.
Since police need to be stationary and able to see a vehicle at close range without cover for lidar to work properly, if police receive a false response the first time they fire their lidar gun, the targeted driver will likely have time to adjust his speed when out of range. Lidar is most often used by motorcycle police or identifiable patrol cars, who use it most effectively on major roads, which limits when and where they can be used. In the case of heavy traffic, the police lidar gun is very effective at focusing on the vehicle and instantly calculating its speed, distance and direction.
Canada held a National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft on February 8, 2024 in Ottawa. The Summit sought to bring together stakeholders to solve this very serious problem.
A major outcome of the Summit is that the government will disrupt the supply chain that makes available devices that are often used in vehicle theft by criminals in the process of stealing vehicles.
Vehicle theft has grown to be a very critical issue in Canada: The country is seeking to mitigate this situation. News reports reveal that car thieves have developed systematic techniques where it is easy to obtain stolen vehicles for sale in other markets. The federal government with the support of advocates is implementing plans to reduce this problem.
This very question of more remedies needed to stop vehicle theft has stimulated the growth of Aftermarket solutions. Antitheft systems and devices are growing in popularity becuase some people feel insecure about simply replying on the vehicle manufactures built-in security systems. The Forbes article below highlights this concern:
"Manufacturers are always working to improve the anti-theft measures in vehicles, but thieves work just as hard to defeat them. According to FBI statistics, in 2020 the U.S. saw an 11.8% increase in car thefts over the prior year, and the trend has continued. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reported that over 1 million vehicles were stolen in 2022. That’s a 7% increase over 2021, and the first time there were over 1 million vehicles stolen since 2008."
When the pickup truck was stolen, the thieves allegedly removed a factory-installed GPS tracker but the owner had his own backup plan: a second GPS tracker which was installed by a trained mechanic. This second telematics device enabled him to locate the Toyota Tundra at a parking lot in Toronto before he called the police.
The strategy of using a second backup tracker is a common strategy used all over the world: The typical weakness of this approach is Management and Maintenance. Management speaks to checking on the proper functioning of the Tracker at regular intervals. Maintenance requires prompt attention at the earliest signs of malfunction.
Information Risk
I believe that Information RISK is the typical reason why some persons chose backup security devices. Vehicle manufacturers adopt strategies to secure information on primary built-in tracking systems and devices so that vehicle security is not compromised. As the age old adage goes "a chain is as strong as its weakness link".
The vehicle service and maintenance information systems has to be distributed downstream involving more human players which inherently increases the risk that ethical issues may compromise security. How to prevent Information from being leaked to bad actors is always a systemic concern.
Information Risk Mitigation
The Information Risk Management (IRM) plan addresses the risk mitigation strategy using policies, technology and procedures to minimize the probability of information security leaks.
Once it becomes apparent that vehicles are being stolen despite the IRM being in place, data should be collected and analyzed to assess how the IRM can be strengthened. The spectrum of compromises varies from sharing of Master Access Codes, Encryption Algorithms or an individual in the Supply Chain informing criminal elements how to defeat the built-in security.
The tools devices generally used to steal vehicles include GPS and GSM Jammers.
GSM & GPS Jammers
Information on how to temporarily block GSM and GPS Signal jammers are readily available online.
Tech-Savvy criminals can learn and become proficient
The GPS Tracker which is an Internet of Things (IoT) device, detects the attempts to jam GSM and GPS transmissions: This electronic attack interferes with the operation of the tracker in it's function to protect the vehicle from being stolen. The small electronic circuit board within the device gathers GPS, GSM, Bluetooth data and other information that keeps the vehicle secure. Satellite data determines vehicle location and elevation.
Is the vehicle on a mountain road or driving through a tunnel under a river. The GSM module assists the GPS module by also providing tracking data based on Mobile Cellsite Towers: This information assists the GPS functionality of the tracker. The Mobile (GSM) data connectivity from the wireless telephone operators such as T-Mobile or Bell Mobility (Bell Canada) allows for the sending of Vehicle Tracking and Monitoring data from the Tracker to GPS Tracking platforms (Software) such as Navixy.com.
decided to go ahead and do a complete integrated radar detection and laser jamming system and really this whole category is new to me so looking for some advice on what type of system to put together. From what I can gather so far, I am looking at one of the newer radar detectors (Passport Max/Max2, Beltronics STiR, Redline XR, Valentine1, etc.) and an ALP 2-sensor laser jamming system. I like the idea that the ALP system offers the remote mount Beltronics STiR receiver add on option and they offer a Bluetooth module that prevents you from having to run a display into the cabin and you can just use your phone for alerts instead. Have no idea how good any of these detectors or feature options work so before dropping $1200-$1500 bucks on a system I'd like to get some real world user opinions (Is a two sensor system enough for the V to protect the front? Am I better off using a stand alone radar detector beside the STiR add on unit ALP's offers? Is the GPS functionality offered in the Radar Detectors and ALP's units really add value (ie. knowing if you are on a highway or not)?) I want the system obviously to perform great but I want something that is not intrusive to the vehicle or looks like an add-on turd inside the cabin signal jammer.
it comes down to how much money you want to spend. I would go with the ALP system for laser. Two heads up front and if you can afford it, two heads in the rear. That will cover you for laser. For radar it domes down to a few things. If you want integrated permanently mounted (less likely for theft) go with the STIR. If you want a windshield mount go with either the Redline or Valentine. There are passionate advocates for both the Redline and the Valentine.
I have the Valentine and it is pretty obnoxious with all the noisy falses. The best way to address these is to use the Bluetooth add on and run an app on your phone called YAV1. The app lets you do a million things. You can segment the bands the detector scans, use the phone gps to lockout falses, log alerts, use it as a remote display, etc etc. The down side is you have yet another device you have to sync up to work with the detector. I live in a high theft area so leaving a detector visible along with a spare cell phone is asking for car damage and stolen items so I have not messed with the phone app and just run the Valentine on road trips.
If you want something which is tunable and you are kind of a techie I'd recommend the Valentine. I thought the arrows were a gimmick at first but they are actually pretty nice. If you want something that runs great out of the box then go with the redline. If you are worried about getting ripped off, install the STIR.
I never thought about the theft aspect so I agree, not something I want to entice a break in (I live in downtown Detroit). Seems like the integrated STiR is what I am looking for then. I really like the idea of the systems alerts/display all acting together from a single point. Am I losing any key features/performance benefits of the integrated STiR over the windshield mount Redline or V1? Also, wasn't planning to do the rear laser jammers as I don't know really where I'd mount them on my wagon and really the only scenario I can think of for laser from the rear is the cop on an overpass sending chase cars as he dings cars going under the bridge (pretty rare in my travel areas). Is there another reason/scenario for rear laser protection I am missing?
Rethink your strategy if you are planning to use a radar jammer to avoid a speeding ticket, as radar jammers are illegal.
Jammers distinguish themselves from the widely recognized radar detectors. While radar detectors inform you about the police's utilization of a radar gun on the highway, jammers actively interfere with radar signals. Although signal blocker are not prohibited for use in passenger cars, their effectiveness is not assured as they solely provide an alert upon detecting radar, which may prove to be too late.
The radar jammer effectively overcomes the radar guns utilized by law enforcement, rendering the car invisible to radar signals. As a result, the monitoring of your speed becomes unattainable. Although its aim is to assist in evading tickets, it may inadvertently worsen the situation.
Being detected by a radar jammer while driving on the interstate is a concerning matter. It's not just about receiving tickets or experiencing an increase in insurance premiums.
The use of radar jammers is prohibited in certain states, implying that you may face penalties regardless of whether you employ them on federal roads or not. It is essential to avoid possessing such devices altogether, and it is particularly important to refrain from using them in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, or Virginia.
Since 1996, radar jammers have been considered illegal by the FCC, leading to strict regulations on their use and sale. Additionally, companies are banned from advertising these devices.
Although the police may not be able to record your speed, they can still identify the usage of radar jammers. The interference caused by these jammers serves as a conspicuous signal, leading the police to pull you over.
In laser speed monitoring situations, the monitoring beam can be blocked by utilizing a laser jammer. It is worth mentioning that although the use of laser jammers does not violate federal law, several states have enacted laws that prohibit their usage.
It is advised to refrain from using them in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
If you wish to evade a speeding ticket legally, the best course of action is to refrain from speeding. It is essential to recognize that radar jammers are not a suitable option, regardless of their availability.