My partner is a safe driver but he tends to drive over the speed limit on the highway. To avoid tickets, he has a radar detector mounted in full view on the dash. Every time we pass a police officer I feel guilty. I feel like he’s advertising to the world that he’s a law-breaker. We’ve argued about it, but he’s not seeing it my way. What can I do?
– Need for Speed
I certainly can’t advocate breaking the law, but if your partner only uses the radar detector on straight stretches of highway during low-traffic times, I can understand.
How often have you driven down a divided stretch of highway, with no access roads, only to find a police car in the shade of an overpass trying to pick off motorists where there has never been – nor ever will be – an accident?
We all know that radar traps set up under those circumstances are a shameless cash grab. That kind of behaviour is a flagrant abuse of authority. Although, to be fair, the individual officers can’t be blamed for trying to meet their assigned quotas.
But hey officers, here’s a tip: How about paying attention to school zones, high traffic zones, and intersections? Forget about lurking under that highway overpass – what about hiding behind a playground sign instead?
As you might have guessed, this otherwise law-abiding columnist has a certain amount of sympathy for your partner. I disapprove of the inappropriate use of police resources and all of you detractors need to remember that when you’re doing 32 km/h in a school zone or 53 km/h in a 50 zone, you’re breaking the law, too. There’s a big difference between those scenarios, and doing 200 km/h in an 80 zone.
In most provinces, owning a radar detector is illegal. But even in those provinces – which includes Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and everything east – the devices continue to sell like B.C. bud. In the rest of the country, radar detectors are legal, and available at any electronics store. It’s clear that you don’t live in a province where radar detectors are illegal, or your partner wouldn’t have one visibly mounted on the dash.
Speeding can be dangerous under certain conditions but so is eating pretzels. Just ask George Bush Jr. It’s true that the higher the speed the worse the accident, but to say that speed actually causes accidents is not usually the case. Accidents are most often due to driver inattention, inexperience, or reckless operation of a motor vehicle.
And what is speeding, anyway? It doesn’t necessarily mean that you were going over the posted limit. For example, hydroplaning off the road while doing 10 km/h under the speed limit is speeding. Rear-ending someone in the fog while doing 20 km/h under the speed limit – that’s speeding too.
Studies on highway speed and casualty statistics have conflicting results. The 2001 Mori study in the U.K., however, supports the notion that those who utilize radar detection have fewer accidents. This stands to reason, as drivers who own radar detectors are usually those who enjoy driving and take it seriously. When you see someone driving by in a vehicle equipped with a radar detector doing 10 km/h over the speed limit, odds are that driver has both hands on the wheel. The next car along, which is observing the speed limit, is likely being driven by a person steering with their knees while fiddling with the radio and drinking a latte.
So what’s really bothering you? Because I don’t think this is a problem, as long as your partner is using the radar detector in a responsible manner. Bottom line, his behaviour is hardly a deal breaker. Save your complaints for the important stuff. You should know better than to nag a good man. It could drive him to truly bad behaviour – and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.
My advice? Get over it. And if you think he has a need for speed beyond what the public roads will safely allow, head to the track and buy him some racing lessons for his birthday. Maybe you should let your hair down, and join him.
