It's bad in Iowa....
It's bad in Iowa, it's the only state where state law on radar and laser says they NEVER have to calibrate their equipment, and equipment calibration cannot be used as a defense. Luckily, I have not heard of cases here where the equipment is hugely out of calibration like this.
Pennsylvania, some state senator got pissed about getting caught in a speed trap a few years ago, and made it illegal for ANYONE but the State Patrol to run radar or laser (including the local police!) They can technically use "Vascar", this ghetto rig where they are supposed to either use two landmarks or put dots on the road, measure the distance, hit a "start" and "stop" button as the car passes the dots, and get a speed. It's apparently labor-intensive enough compared to aiming the radar gun and pulling the trigger that they don't bother.
The city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was told their cameras were illegal and basically said "fuck you, w'ere leaving them up anyway." Unbelievable. The city officials were apparently quite shocked when people started demanding refunds on their ilegally-collected fees. Of course, Gatso operates these, you actually get a "request for payment" from Gatso (which you're not obligated to ever pay, since you didn't order goods or services from this company... and if they report it to a credit agency, you can tell the credit agency the same and they are legally obligated to remove the negative item from your report) instead of a ticket from the city (where there are actual legal penalties for non-payment.)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
