ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990                   TAG: 9007190450
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

GROUPS REQUEST BAN ON RADAR DETECTORS

Safety and police groups asked the government Wednesday to ban radar detectors in interstate trucks, citing new evidence suggesting that as many as half the truck drivers in some states use the detectors as a defense against being nabbed for speeding.

Eight groups, including the nation's largest trucking group, signed a petition to the Federal Highway Administration to ban what they called electronic "partners in crime" in all commercial vehicles in interstate commerce.

"The only reason you'd want to have one in a truck is to drive faster than you ought to," said Tom Donohue, president of American Trucking Associations, which represents 4,500 truck companies.

Groups supporting the use of detectors criticized the petition, saying the dash-top units protect motorists against speed traps and police errors.

"The government can't limit a citizen's use of a radar detector any more than it can limit the use of an AM-FM radio," said Jason Richards of the Ohio-based Radio Association Defending Airwave Rights, or RADAR.

A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which drafted the petition, found that between 33 percent and 52 percent of semitrailer trucks checked in a recent seven-state survey were using radar detectors.

Tom Larson, federal highway administrator, said the agency had received the petition and would review it.

Other groups signing the petition were the American Automobile Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Safety Council, the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and Public Citizen.

Only Connecticut, Virginia and the District of Columbia outlaw detectors in all vehicles; New York bans them in larger trucks. They are legal in all other states, with about 2 million sold each year. 


 by CNB