Do police radar guns give off potentially harmful radiation?

Question

anyone know? i know they give off a form of radiation, but does anyone know about the type of radiation? Is it a type which could possibly damage or alter living cells? I recently had somebody tell me a bunch of stupid stuff(which doesnt give off radiation) such as the bar code readers in supermarkets.. and things like that give off radiation... i told her off, but i know radar guns do... theres apparently a book about all this somewhere that she read... anyway, just curious

yeaa, i know eyes can be easily damaged by low levels of radiation... another reason i was wondering is because i know that almost all radar detecters "leak" some form of radiation which can be picked up by "rdd" or radar detector detectors... which are used in viginia and other places where radar is illegal, also in many other states to get an idea if truck drivers are using a radar detector (illegal)... I personally have a radar detector in my car and that was another thing i was wondering about, because that is constant exposure...

Answer 1

the wavelengths used by radar guns is similar to the radio waves that you listen to your favorite music on. These waves pass through you harmlessly. The amount of energy imparted to your body by the waves from the radar gun is less than the emissions from your cell phone and considerably farther away from your body. The fact is that you are bombarded by radio waves from numerous sources continually. While there hasnt been a lot of research studying how this affects living organisms long term, I would venture to say that you can probably find a lot of other things to worry about that are far more likely to cause you injury in the long term.

Answer 2

Radar guns do transmit in the microwave frequency range (up in the 20 to 40 GHz range), but at a very low power - on the order of milliwatts. As one answerer noted, there had been claims of testicular cancer when the radar gun was left on (transmitting) and placed between the legs while waiting to use it again - don't know what happened with that.

The fixed-antenna radar units (with the antennas on the dash and rear deck) all point away from the officer, so there's no issue there. Since the intensity of the radiation is subject to the inverse square law, the level of electromagnetic radiation is EXTREMELY low... when the distance from the antenna is doubled, the intensity is reduced by a factor of 4. So if the radar unit is transmitting at 100 mW at 1 ft, the power will be 50 mW at 2 ft and 1 mW at 10 ft. At a typical distance of a patrol car to a "target" vehicle, you're seeing approximately 10 microwatts. And that's not even taking into account the losses through the windshield and other factors.

Also, most oficers don't leave the transmitter on continuously. Aside from not needing it on, it also doesn't set off radar detectors until I see you, make an estimate of your speed, then activate it for the 2 seconds it takes to lock on.

The store bar-code readers do emit radiation, but it's by a laser diode in the visible spectrum - much higher frequency than microwave radiation. Its intensity and coherence is another issue.

Calif Deputy

Answer 3

Radar Radiation

Answer 4

Radar Guns give out a very low wave form of radiation, radio waves, most commonly X, K, and Ka bands. Since these are even lower bandwidth than that of a normal radio transciever there is a greater chance of getting radiation posioning standing next to a radio, than getting it from being shot at by a police radar gun. And also a note, most police departments in cities across the nation have begun to upgrade to a more accurate speed detector, the laser gun. (no worries, even lower radiation than radar)

Answer 5

I don't think that the frequency of the radiation of the radar guns is at the right frequency. Radar used in the Navy can cause tissue damage. If you stand too close to some radio antennas or radar beams, it will heat up your testicles and your eyes because they don't have enough blood flow. You can get cataracts. I doubt they would be using those frequencies and I would imagine they are a much higher frequency where they wouldn't vibrate water molecules like a microwave.

Answer 6

Yes they do. They are basically radio waves but they can and do harm human tissue at very close range. The only problems that have developed were with hand held units. The mounted units point out and as I said the you have to be very close to the source. Officers in the 70' and 80's with hand held units did sometimes develop problems. Those officers tended to place the unit between their legs while seated in the squad waiting to point the unit. There were a few law suits but I have no idea what happened.

Answer 7

The only harmful effects would be the ticket if you were speeding. Bar code reader in super market scanners? I suppose if you were to directly scan your eye for some time, it could cause damage to the retina due to the light intensity.

Answer 8

i dont think they do give off radiation. but i could be wrong. a radar is a very sensitive frequincy thats sent out and bounces back to the item that sent it out. it then calculates how long it takes for the frequincy to get back. then its calculated im kmh and or pmh or what ever there measuring in. but anyway its tested and it wont affect you. but it could throw off certain mechines that deals with frequincies.

Answer 9

Not nearly the same amount of radiation as in those red flashy things the Men in Black use to erase your memory.

Answer 10

no