Can radiation be harmful

Answer 1

No. It doesn't work by sending out any signals, but only by looking at what is coming at it. Think of it as a transistor radio. If there's a signal on a frequency that you're tuned to, you'll hear that signal. If there's nothing, you hear nothing. And all the while the radio is "just listening" to the air waves - just like the radar detector is "just listening" for any strong signals in the radar bands it is designed to cover. Most smart officers set up in a spot where they can't really be seen until you're right on top of them. And once they see you back up the road and "paint" you with the gun, it's usually too late. Certainly if they paint someone ahead of you, you'll get a warning, but if you're the marked vehicle, you're probably toast. They've got you before you can react to your warning. And officers "pick" their targets knowing that folks behind the target vehicle may have detectors. They don't "shoot blindly" down the road and "warn" other drivers they are there. Is a radar detector harmful? Only in that it provides a relatively false sense of security that you can detect a signal and slow down before you are targeted. That will indirectly encourage you to drive more boldly - drive faster. And that can put you and others at risk.

Answer 2

Radar units emit microwave radiation. The emissions from radar units are safe as long as sufficient distance from the emitter is maintained. If one gets too close to the radar emitter, the radiation density is great enough to cause heating in the tissue and this can result in damage, depending on how close one gets and and for how long one stays there. (Much like a microwave oven.)

Most radar units are fenced and have access controls to prevent people getting too close.

Answer 3

No, some kinds of radiation can be helpful.

Answer 4

Yes, mainly for its tendency to produce mutations in DNA.