TexasCHLforum.com

Visually you can usually tell a police version Crown Vic by:
1. Black grille
2. Black between the tail lights and license plate area.

Civilian Crown Vics have:
1. Chrome grille
2. Body color between the tail lights and the license plate area.

We were talking about CVPI's (Crown Vic Police Interceptors) on another thread,
and someone said that the cops can order their package, but with a "Street Appearance"
option that gives their undercover cars chrome grilles and body color between the tail lights
and the license plate area, just like civilan CV's.

SIA

jsimmons:

If one suspects that a Crown Vic is an unmarked LEO unit, looking at
the non exempt license plates would not necessarily be definitive.

Undercover Crown Vics wear "general issue" Texas license plates, same
as a civilian gets.

I sometimes daydream about getting a surplus LEO Crown Vic and getting
the vanity plates "OHNO-50". :-)

SIA

KeithB:

You are correct sir. Even if you have a V1 (Valentine One), "instant on" radar/laser
will nail you if you are the first vehicle "sampled". That's why, paradoxically, it's safer
(ticket wise) to speed in a group of vehicles, rather than on a completely empty highway.

Laser is sometimes characterized as the ultimate speed-measuring device.
The beam is supposed to be so narrow that if your laser detector goes off, you
are getting the ticket. I have found though that there IS some "scatter" of the
laser beam, which I have picked up in the rightmost lane of I-35E, a 3 lane highway,
while the LEO was lasing people in the leftmost, high speed lane.

Laser does have some restrictions on its use, which is why radar is preferred for
speed monitoring by the LEO's. To wit:
1. Laser must be used from a stationary position. It can't be used while the police
officer is moving.
2. Laser is not efficiently used in the rain.
3. Laser can't shoot through glass. So many times, the office sits parked at a 90 degree angle
to the roadway, with his driver's window down.

As well as having my V1, I have "anti-laser" license plate covers. They look like clear plastic,
but are supposed to have the ability to absorb or scatter a laser signal so that the laser officer
does not get a clear reading.

SIA

kalipsocs:

It's up to you whether you want to dispute the ticket in court, or just go the driver's ed
route, or go with deferred adjudication.

If you dispute it in court, photos of the unclear speed limit sign would assist your defense.

After you handle the ticket in whichever manner you choose, the next thing you should do
is to contact TexDOT (if it's a state highway or FM road), or your city/county road department,
and make a request to have the sign repaired so that it faces traffic directly. If it is foliage-
obstructed, ask them to trim the area also.

I have called in road issues for years. The response of the various departments has run the gamut
from "the crew fixed the problem by the end of the afternoon" to "we'll boringly take the report over
the phone and will never fix it." LIke the rest of life, it all comes down to the individuals within
the department.

Good luck in court. If you want to get the best radar/laser detector for defense, buy a Valentine
One. Yes, they are $395, but the long range alerts and arrows showing the direction of the cop
will pay for themselves. My first one lasted 6 years. Then I traded the failed one back to them
and got a brand new Valentine One for just $189.

East of Mexia, TX on US84, approaching the TX 179 intersection, I was going 108 MPH in a
70 zone and got a 2 mile warning of DPS radar ahead. The white F-150 that was ahead of me going
about 115 got nailed. I wonder if he got just the big ticket or handcuffs for a ride to the pokey.

SIA