Removing Virginia’s ban on radar detectors would aid drug runners passing through the commonwealth and rob state coffers of needed revenue from traffic tickets, opponents charged on Tuesday.
The measure advanced toward a final vote after a brief debate on the House floor. It would put Virginia in line with the other 49 states in the nation that allow the devices, which alert speeding motorists to nearby police radar and allow them to slow down before being pulled over.
Del. Charles Carrico, R-Galax, a former state trooper, warned that “a lot of drug runners on Interstate 95” were watching the legislation and hoping for its passage. Carrico said the bill would legalize a device “whose sole purpose is to violate the law,” and said language in the legislation also would allow radar jammers.
Fines from traffic tickets go to the Virginia literary fund and other local sources, which would be deprived of revenue should the radar detector ban be repealed, said Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas.
“And if we pass this bill we are going to be allowing so many opportunities for people who are speeding, for people who are driving recklessly in this commonwealth, to get away with it,” Miller said.
The ban has been in place for more than four decades. The bill’s sponsor, Del. Joe May, R-Leesburg, said Virginia’s singular status in outlawing the devices makes for non-uniform traffic law that can snare motorists unaware they’re doing something illegal. And “there is no formal evidence” the ban reduces accident rates, he said. “This is something that has outlived its usefulness,” May said. The bill last week passed the House Transportation Committee, which May heads, on an 11-10 vote. Similar efforts have died in prior sessions. The House and Senate last week passed bills to raise the speed limit on rural interstates from 65 to 70 miles per hour.
