Speeder's Friend, Smokey's Foe

By Janice Castro

With gasoline prices low and fears of terrorism and radioactive fallout abroad relatively high, U.S. drivers are expected to hit the road in record numbers in 1986. In its latest survey, the American Automobile Association forecasts that some 95 million Americans will take auto trips this summer, an 8% increase over 1985. Many of those motorists are bound to indulge in a familiar American pastime: avoiding speed traps. Indeed, U.S. drivers in ever increasing numbers are turning for help in that unsporting effort to one of the hottest of automobile accessories, the miniature radar detector.

Once an obscure gadget found mostly on the dashboards of high-performance cars or in the cabs of long-haul trucks, the portable radar detector is fast becoming standard operating equipment in workaday Chevys, Fords and Toyotas. By beeping a warning whenever a police radar transmitter is operating nearby, the small (as light as 6 oz.) electronic gizmos give lead-footed drivers a chance to slow down before a police officer can spot a speeding violation. About 1.5 million citizens bought so-called Smokey detectors last year, a 25% increase over 1984. This year industry sales are expected to keep growing, from $250 million to more than $300 million.

The first commercial radar detector was invented in 1968 by, fittingly enough, a disgruntled motorist who felt that he had been unfairly nabbed for speeding. Dale Smith, a Dayton-area electronics whiz, dubbed his creation Fuzzbuster I. The theory behind the device is simple. Police radar sets bounce a microwave beam off an approaching car or truck in order to measure the speed at which the vehicle is moving. The target must be in a direct line of sight with the radar transmitter before an accurate reading can be taken. The radar emissions, however, can be detected by a simple electronic receiving device from a distance of a mile or more. When a Fuzzbuster-style receiver picks up such waves, it typically emits a high-pitched noise as a warning to the driver.

A host of competitors of the original Fuzzbuster have since roared onto the market. Some of the best-selling detectors are made by Cincinnati Microwave, whose latest PASSPORT edition is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and sells for $295. Thanks to his attentive little black boxes, Cincinnati Microwave Chairman and Co-Founder James Jaeger, 38, is a multimillionaire who owns a fleet of Ferraris and says that, of course, he never gets speeding tickets.

Although speeding is, by definition, against the law, only Connecticut, Virginia and Washington have made it illegal to use radar detectors. But even in those jurisdictions, the bans are sparsely enforced because of legal challenges concerning, among other things, the freedom of access to radar frequencies.

One manufacturer backs its product with an unusual one-year guarantee. American Antenna of Elgin, Ill., reimburses owners of its K40 receivers for speeding fines if the users are zapped by police radar.

With reporting by David E. Thigpen/New York