Legality of Radar Detector Use in North Carolina
Radar Detectors are allowed to be used in Personal vehicles in North Carolina. They are not allowed to be used in commercial vehicles. In fact they are only allowed for use in the vehicle of the owner. It is a class 3 misdemeanor to possess a radar/laser jammer that has been designed to interfere with law enforcement radar or laser measuring devices in North Carolina. At the moment possession of a radar/laser jammer or accessory that does not interfere is perfectly legal.
The only exceptions to this are if you own a commercial vehicle. The simple reason for this is that the police use these vehicles to patrol the highways. Allowing radar detectors in their vehicles could mean that they wouldn’t be able to do their jobs.
There is also an exception if you have a military vehicle. Military vehicles are not subject to any of the laws that normally apply to civil vehicles. For that reason you will often find radar detectors and jammers on military vehicles as there is no law to penalize you for having them.
Punishments for Illegal Usage
Enforcement of the law is carried out by state and local law enforcement agencies. Should a driver make the mistake of using a radar detector in North Carolina while operating their vehicle, they could face misdemeanor criminal charges.
In addition to a misdemeanor criminal charge, a person using a radar detector in violation of the law in the State of North Carolina is subject to a fine set by the local court system. The fine is generally: $25 plus any amounts charged by the Division of Motor Vehicles for the required removal or disabling of the radar detector.
For most drivers, if pulled over for some other traffic violation, the police officer will probably not personally examine your vehicle. Officers will often times only solicit information from the driver to confirm or deny radar detector use.
If the police officer does confirm the use of a radar detector in violation of the law, they may instruct the driver to surrender their radar detector to a higher ranking officer upon his/her arrival.
Possession, sale, offer for sale, use or attempted use of a radar detector in violation of North Carolina law is a class 3 misdemeanor under North Carolina General Statutes Section 105-236.2. It is worth noting a Class A1 misdemeanor shelf involves criminal charges which are equivalent to having committed a crime against people and/or property; however, it is punishable by fines up to $10,000 and/or time in jail.
The act of making a criminal offense a class 3 misdemeanor is punishable by fines up to $200 and/or time in jail. This places the penalty upon conviction, as the harshest punishment allowable under law for the offense.
North Carolina General Statute Section 105-236.2(a) lists three prohibitions, including: (I) the possession, sale, offer for sale, use, or attempted use of a radar detector on a public highway; (II) the manufacture or assembly of radar detectors for the purpose of sale or offering for sale; and (III) the sale or offer for sale of a radar detector, regardless of the place of manufacture or assembly.
Any person that violates this statute will be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor under North Carolina General Statutes Section 14-3. Once again, this is the harshest punishment allowable under law.
Comparison with Other States
While states have different laws, North Carolina stands out in its lack of restrictions on radar detectors. Georgia is the only other Southeastern state that allows the use of radar detectors. Vermont and Virginia prohibit the use of radar detectors in anything other than private vehicles for a fee. However, Vermont exempts certain classes of vehicles from the prohibition, including vehicles owned by government agencies, public service corporations subject to the authority of the Vermont Public Utility Commission, and public service corporations handling or transporting goods for hire. In Virginia, there are no exemptions. In fact, both Virginia and Vermont will seize your radar detector, should you get caught with one in your vehicle. Mississippi and Texas require you to turn off your radar detector while in an active construction zone. Should you fail to comply, you could face a hefty fine of $50. Texas is the only state that requires new drivers to be educated on the dangers of radar detectors. Texas licenses 27 agencies whose responsibilities are focused on education and outreach programs related to safety belts and child passenger safety as well as safe driving courses.
Reasons behind the Radar Detector Law
A number of reasons have been cited by lawmakers for restricting radar detector use. Chief among them is the safety issue. In 1991, a study by the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company found that radar detectors are a major contributor to excessive speed. The National Academies of Science has conducted similar studies, concluding that because there is a widespread perception that radar detectors confer the ability to break the law, their use encourages more traffic violations, and thus increases the risk to drivers.
The belief that radar detectors encourage speeding is supported by traffic enforcement officers , who say that radar detectors alert speeding drivers to threats to their law-breaking activity. For example, a law enforcement study published in 1991 in the Journal of Criminology examined speeding behavior at four highways around Seattle. It was found that drivers slowed down to illegal speed shortly before they passed a marked police car, then sped back up after passing the car. Drivers using radar detectors were found to slow down for the police cars, but then to speed up "more aggressively" after passing, presumably because the driver did not believe he would see another police car anytime soon.
Exemptions and Special Cases
Some exemptions exist to the law, which allow non-law enforcement personnel to legally possess and use radar detectors in their vehicles in North Carolina.
Such exceptions have been made for common carriers: motor buses, taxis, motor vehicles operated for compensation of citizens with disabilities, and private buses. Private buses are defined to be those that operate on a fixed route or fixed schedule, that have more than 15 seats, charge the public or private employers a per mile or per passenger rate. The statute excludes school buses, sightseeing buses, airport and hotel shuttle buses.
Before any motor vehicle is operated as a taxi, motor vehicle operated for compensation of citizens with disabilities, or private bus, the owner must register the vehicle with the DMV. Specialized license plates, including "TAXI," "DISABLED PAY" and "TRAVEL BUS" or a new generation of "BUS" and "DISABLED" license plates, must be obtained. These plates must be affixed to the front and rear of the vehicle, if the vehicle was manufactured with front and rear plate brackets, or the plates otherwise may be affixed per DMV specifications.
To a limited extent, the exception applies to law enforcement vehicles whose drivers are not officers of a law enforcement agency, while acting in a law enforcement capacity.
Future Legality of the Radar Detector Law
While radar detectors are not currently illegal, there is constant debate surrounding whether or not the state should ban them or allow ones to be used, and under what conditions. Their continued evolution raises questions on how the law deals with their future. And as every driver knows, though a radar detector can alert you to the presence of a police officer, it is no guarantee that you will not be pulled over for speeding, which itself comes with hefty fines and insurance consequences.
Some states require drivers to remove radar detectors when operating commercial and government vehicles on public roads. So as trucks and other commercial vehicles continue to develop technologically, will North Carolina enforce a similar law? Right now, the answer is unknown . But it would not be surprising if future legislation papers over current laws in an attempt to make road safety a higher priority.
Ongoing discussions over whether or not radar detectors should be banned entirely have long been debated, both in the state of North Carolina and across the country. And while radar detectors are banned in many states, and others place restrictions on their use, their continued presence on the roads suggests many people find value in these devices.
The future of radar detectors and radar detectors laws in the United States is unclear, but the technology will almost certainly continue expanding while under the jurisdiction of a patchwork of local, state, and federal laws. As North Carolina continues to deliberate new radar detector laws, the outcome could set a precedent for other states to follow.
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