Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that does not allow local police departments to use radar guns to catch speeders.
On Tuesday the Pennsylvania Radar Coalition held a meeting where officials called for the state to re-examine its radar gun policy.
Douglas Braff spoke with police departments in our region. Douglas, what’s the general opinion from them?
In my conversations with a number of police departments none of them opposed this. In fact they seemed quite eager about radar guns.
The Huntingdon Boro Police Chief tells me he used radar guns when he used to work in Maryland.
“I know the reliability of them. I know the safety that can be contributed to that in regards to public safety, in regards to the communities that are they’re being utilized. Then they’re a great tool for law enforcement to provide not only traffic enforcement but also, and general safety for the public as well.”
“I think it would make it easier for them to conduct speed enforcement.”
The Tyrone police chief explains some of the alternative tactics for measuring vehicle speed.
“Well, we have the stopwatches, so that’s usually we clock them between two lines. And then we also use the NRAD system, which is like a laser beam that when they’re traveling through it will conduct, it will track their speed.”
“There’s a lot of places where we have trouble with speed, but there’s not really any place for them to sit or to have lines painted or set up the NRAD system or they can get an accurate clock on vehicles.”
“I think radar guns would be an excellent tool for police in Pennsylvania to use.”
“I’m in favor of it because it’s a tool that we can use to increase our speeding enforcement in neighborhoods, in areas where the speed limits are lower, where there is a real danger of people driving too fast around children and people out walking.”
“Radar is a tool that has been used successfully in every other state. And it could be combined with distracted-driving enforcement to really stop some dangerous behavior on our roadways, much more effectively than we’re able to now.”
It’s unclear whether the legislature will speedily pass the proposed bill so, we’ll keep you updated on that.
