My Brother won in Virginia court over his radar detector

[Papa]

My younger brother told me a great story yesterday over Christmas dinner. He recently moved away to work in DC. He had a radar detector that he was still using (it's illegal to use one in Virginia). He was pulled over in heavy traffic a few weeks ago and cited for using a it. My brother is the type to fight for what he believes is right. When he was 10, he argued on behalf of my dad down at the municipal building to get a variance for a satellite dish we had installed .

Anyway, the cop asked him if he hadn't somehow seen the big gray signs posted every few miles stating how it was illegal to use radar detectors in the state of Virginia. My brother was just going to nod and take his ticket but he couldn't control his mouth and he blurted out that the manual for the detector said it was legal. The cop said he didn't care what was in the manual and that it was illegal in Virginia. period.

Before the court date, my brother researched the law and found a loophole. I don't remember the specifics,my memory is hazy on this, but it had something to do with a law that was passed in the mid 90's that was lobbied very hard by the radar detector industry. It had something to do with allowing emergency vehicles or trains to emit a signal that would be picked up by radar detectors thereby warning drivers. Coincidentally my brother had made this his 10th grade science project years ago on this very topic.

So, armed with what he found, he printed it all off and went to his court date. The Bailiff rolled his eyes when my brother pleaded not guilty. The cop took the stand and said how he spotted the suction cups on the dash (my bro was using Velcro), and that when he informed my brother that it was illegal to have a detector my brother responded "my manual says it's legal, and I don't care what you say". Lies or faulty memory on both accounts.

When it was my brother's turn to speak, he talked about his 10th grade science project, the lobbying that was done to get the law passed, and the last sentence of the law which said something like no laws shall be passed which stops this emergency signal from being received. When he got done, there was complete silence in the court. He handed the judge the papers who looked them over, a bit bewildered, who then asked a question or two from the cop. The cop said he didn't think there were any trains in the area.

The judge studied the papers for a second, then said "well, it looks like the legislature is going to have to do a better job at keeping up with the law. case dismissed." My brother told the judge that even though it was "legal" for him to use his detector, he was not going to do so in the future. He didn't want to waste anymore of the courts time or other officers time.


I'm so proud of my younger brother, I haven't heard of anyone beating the law in Virginia in regards to radar detectors. He would have made a great lawyer.

[Fridays Child]

1. Great story, and I hope...

...that your brother is on our side!

[Papa]

2. He is

When he graduated, he had written on his cap "cheney evil"