Senate OKs local police using radar for speed enforcement

HARRISBURG — Local police would be able to use radar to enforce speed limits under a bill that passed the Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday.

Senators voted 49-1 for the legislation that would limit revenue from speeding tickets to 10% of a municipality’s budget.

Local jurisdictions would have to pass an ordinance, train police in using radar guns and follow rules for regular testing and calibration of the speed measurement devices.

Except in school zones or work zones, convictions for speeding based on radar would not be allowed if the driver is going less than 70 mph and the recorded speed is less than 10 mph over the posted limit. For higher speeds, the driver would have to be going at least 6 mph over the limit.

For the first three months of use, only warnings would be issued.

Pennsylvania has long limited the use of radar to state police, and repeated efforts to allow it for local police have never succeeded.

To become law, the proposal still needs a positive vote in the state House and Gov. Tom Wolf’s signature.