redwrx

Has anybody heard about any recent changes in the law regarding to the use of these??

Ive got a snooper evolution which is purely gps based, but im hearing that there has been a change in the law regarding laser detectors.

Can anybody shed some light on this, as i cant seem to find any online



Thanks


Frank

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

As far as I know they will be banned from next year (spoke to a seller of said item)

amahrap

From Snooper site - go on the make them illegal (just like the use of mobile phones in cars ) then try and enforce it !!

England, Wales and Northern Ireland

The sale, purchase and installation of a Snooper is perfectly legal. The use of one until recently may have contravened the 1949 Wireless and Telegraphy Act but a judgement of the Queens Bench Divisional Court dated 29th January 1998 makes it clear that the use of Radar Detectors is not unlawful as has hitherto been claimed by some. In the past a few prosecutions have been brought by claiming the use of radar detectors was contrary to section 5(b)(i) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 as amended by section 3 of the Post Office Act 1969. However the Acts refer to the interception of wireless communications for the purpose of obtaining information as to the content, sender or addressee of any message. The Court concluded that the radar transmission was not communicating a 'message' and therefore equipment designed to detect the presence of the transmission could not decode any such message.
It was further stated that section 1(1) of the Act, which requires a licence for the reception of radio signals, has been superseded by the Wireless Telegraphy Apparatus (Receivers)(Exemption) Regulations (SI 1989 No123) which exempts radar detectors and similar equipment from the need for such licences.
This case is reported in The Times on Feb 18, 1998, page 41 under the heading "Radar speed guns do not send message". Unfortunately The Times now charges for access to its archives and we can no longer link to the full story but you can purchase the extract yourself here, its about the 63 article down the page.
http://www.newsint-archive.co.uk/
January 2005 Update
At the moment the government are debating making radar detectors illegal, something they have been considering since 1998 when they were proved not to be illegal under the 1949 Wireless & Telegraph Communications Act. It has taken 6 years for them to get around to discussing it in the House of Commons as part of an up and coming Road Safety Bill, and providing it passes all readings in the various Houses, and assuming that a general election does not get in the way, then it may become law later this year.
We understand that this proposal is aimed at radar detectors and laser jammers, not GPS based units. The difference is that the GPS devices are a collection of data already in the public domain. They want people to know where the cameras are, which is why they are painted yellow and locations are published on police and local council websites for all to see. The cameras are at designated dangerous sites, and this is what the GPS devices alert you to. It is the fact that radar detectors can tell you whether some cameras are active or not that is the difference the Government wants to outlaw.
At the moment these products are legal to sell, buy, own and use. Any change to this situation is currently just speculation and no specifics have been confirmed or date set. There is likely, in any case, to be a time delay - they would not be outlawed immediately, so there would be time for people to make use of their detectors before any ban is implemented. As you may have noticed these types of product are still widely available.
There has been a second reading in the House of Commons but the issue of Radar Detectors, which is just a small part of the Road Safety Bill, was only touched on and there has still been no confirmation of any change in the law as yet. We will keep you updated as and when there is any further news.
Scotland

The above case has not been tried in the Scottish courts but it has set a precedent which we believe would be followed. Radar detectors are widely sold and used in Scotland.
Republic of Ireland

Radar detectors are legal to own but illegal to be found using.

redwrx

thanks for the info..


Frank

GazTheHat

Another grey-area law, great!! Just like it's legal to buy/own the seed, illegal plant it.

andythejock01wrx

.......... but fun to smoke it !!

Zebedy

GPS is fine but an active rader detector is or will be illegal to own or use.

Think Laser is fine as by the time it alerts you its too late anyway

Chelspeed

> Think Laser is fine

Nope sorry, laser detectors will be illegal too if the law ever does go through. Only GPS based "detectors" will be OK (which aren't really detectors, they just know where cameras are and where they are then warn you when the two coincide).

Another grey area is GPS devices with laser detectors added on like Origin B2 and new road angel. Origin B2 has a plug in laser detector so you can just unplug it. Road angel has it built in so more difficult, allegedly there will be a software "fix" to turn it off so should be OK.

But not heard anything about this new law for months so the Government may have lost interest so don't worry about it too much.