Headsup: Windshield Suction Mounts Illegal in CA/MN
#1
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Hi all,
I saw this posted on Garmin's web site, re GPS antennas and thought it important to radar detector owners:
NOTICE TO DRIVERS IN CALIFORNIA AND MINNESOTA: State law prohibits drivers in California and Minnesota from using suction mounts on their windshields while operating motor vehicles. Other Garmin dashboard or friction mounting options should be used. Garmin does not take any responsibility for any fines, penalties, or damages that may be incurred as a result of disregarding this notice. (See California Vehicle Code Section 26708(a); Minnesota Statutes 2005, Section 169.71)
Sounds like an opportunity for police to issue arbitrary citations to radar detector owners. Watch your ***!
Who'da thought California would be the first to infringe upon personal rights in any form? Oh, but then safety trumps personal rights. I almost forgot. Somebody musta received a flailing suction cup to the noggin and sued the state. That ol' chestnut. I get it.
Dave
I saw this posted on Garmin's web site, re GPS antennas and thought it important to radar detector owners:
NOTICE TO DRIVERS IN CALIFORNIA AND MINNESOTA: State law prohibits drivers in California and Minnesota from using suction mounts on their windshields while operating motor vehicles. Other Garmin dashboard or friction mounting options should be used. Garmin does not take any responsibility for any fines, penalties, or damages that may be incurred as a result of disregarding this notice. (See California Vehicle Code Section 26708(a); Minnesota Statutes 2005, Section 169.71)
Sounds like an opportunity for police to issue arbitrary citations to radar detector owners. Watch your ***!
Who'da thought California would be the first to infringe upon personal rights in any form? Oh, but then safety trumps personal rights. I almost forgot. Somebody musta received a flailing suction cup to the noggin and sued the state. That ol' chestnut. I get it.
Dave
Last edited by Dave_D; 05-28-2007 at 04:58 PM. Reason: Typo. Company is "Garmin," not "Uniden."
#2
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I got stopped in Minnesota going west through Detroit Lakes on Highway 10 during WE Fest (hugh outdoor country music festival, for those who don't follow that sort of thing).
I was driving the '68. Pulled me over in town, asked about the car as he and his ride-along looked it over, and told me I'd have to take the radar detector off the windshield. Actually volunteered that if I had the visor mount, that would be okay. When I told him I didn't he replied, "with WE Fest, I doubt you'd be speeding, and anyway, it would be going off like crazy as soon as you get east of town, so you might just as well not use it." Wished me a nice drive home and let me go.
I was driving the '68. Pulled me over in town, asked about the car as he and his ride-along looked it over, and told me I'd have to take the radar detector off the windshield. Actually volunteered that if I had the visor mount, that would be okay. When I told him I didn't he replied, "with WE Fest, I doubt you'd be speeding, and anyway, it would be going off like crazy as soon as you get east of town, so you might just as well not use it." Wished me a nice drive home and let me go.
#3
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I should probably correct myself here too. Upon reading the California Vehicle Code, there is an exception for:
Unless I'm mistaken, they're describing a radar detector.
Dave
...an electronic communication device affixed to the center uppermost portion of the interior of a windshield within an area that is not greater than 5 inches square, if the device provides ... the capability for enforcement facilities of the Department of the California Highway Patrol to communicate with a vehicle equipped with the device.
Dave
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So it's not OK to mount it to the bottom of the windshield and rest it on the dash, but it is OK to mount it at the top where it could fall onto your face. Got it. I hate CA laws.
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They probably mean an EZ pass or some such device... Radar detectors are signal detection only not a communications device by my standards... Just my 2c
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jm