The Florida Senate

316.1906  Radar speed-measuring devices; evidence, admissibility.--

(1)  DEFINITIONS.--

(a)  "Audio Doppler" means a backup audible signal that translates the radar's Doppler shift into a tone which can be heard by the radar operator.

(b)  "Audio warning tone" refers to an auxiliary radar device which alerts the operator, by means of an audible tone, to the presence of a speed registration above a preset level.

(c)  "Automatic speed lock" refers to an auxiliary radar device which immediately holds any speed reading obtained above a preset level.

(d)  "Officer" means any:

1.  "Law enforcement officer" who is elected, appointed, or employed full time by any municipality or the state or any political subdivision thereof; who is vested with the authority to bear arms and make arrests; and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, criminal, traffic, or highway laws of the state;

2.  "Part-time law enforcement officer" who is employed or appointed less than full time, as defined by an employing agency, with or without compensation; who is vested with authority to bear arms and make arrests; and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, criminal, traffic, or highway laws of the state; or

3.  "Auxiliary law enforcement officer" who is employed or appointed, with or without compensation; who aids or assists a full-time or part-time law enforcement officer; and who, while under the direct supervision of a full-time or part-time law enforcement officer, has the authority to arrest and perform law enforcement functions.

(e)  "Radar" means law enforcement speed radar, any laser-based or microwave-based speed-measurement system employed by a law enforcement agency to detect the speed of motorists.

(2)  Evidence of the speed of a vehicle measured by any radar speed-measuring device shall be inadmissible in any proceeding with respect to an alleged violation of provisions of law regulating the lawful speed of vehicles, unless such evidence of speed is obtained by an officer who:

(a)  Has satisfactorily completed the radar training course established by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission pursuant to s. 943.17(1)(b).

(b)  Has made an independent visual determination that the vehicle is operating in excess of the applicable speed limit.

(c)  Has written a citation based on evidence obtained from radar when conditions permit the clear assignment of speed to a single vehicle.

(d)  Is using radar which has no automatic speed locks and no audio alarms, unless disconnected or deactivated.

(e)  Is operating radar with audio Doppler engaged.

(f)  Is using a radar unit which meets the minimum design criteria for such units established by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

History.--s. 1, ch. 80-276; s. 24, ch. 84-258; s. 1, ch. 92-193.