First Story About New Technology

I worked in the oilfield for a summer with the man who got the first radar-assisted speeding ticket in my hometown. He was an old guy named Richard, but everyone called him Stid. He was great to work with and a nice guy.

He was going down Main Street, headed toward the Burger Barn. He saw the police car stopped on the side of the road and was surprised when the flashing lights came on. He pulled over and the cop, whom he knew, came over and said, "Stid, do you know how fast you were going?"

Stid said, "35."

The cop said, "You were going 36. I got a new radar gun that tells me how fast people are going."

Stid said, "Well, my spedometer said I was going about 35, how could I know exactly what your radar would say?"

The cop said, "Sorry, Stid, but this is the way it is going to be now that we've got the radar."

Stid was not happy.

Before radar, police must have guessed at speeds, unless they could follow a speeder and measure speed by their own spedometer. I had never thought before about the time before police could take radar measurements until Stid told his story.