Driving up from Richmond on Route 395 today, I was intrigued by a sign hung over the roadway:

SPEED MONITORED BY RADAR AND OTHER ELECTRICAL DEVICES

For me, this conjures the black-and-white image of a disgraced scientist tinkering with a Tesla coil, bent on a mad scheme to determine how fast I'm going. It is clear that someone took a great deal of care in selecting these words, but why? As a government contractor, I ask that question a lot, but this is an extreme case.

Is this formulation meant to have special deterrent power? "There's a cop up ahead, but he's probably just using the sonar of trained bats to figure out how fast I'm going, and what judge is going to accept the testimony of trained bats? What's that? They're using unspecified electrical devices? I better slow down!"

Is someone from Homeland Security just trying to withhold as much information as possible? "I can disclose that we are monitoring the speed of certain vehicles of interest. How? Well, let's just say it's electrical."

I am inclined to get a bumper sticker:

SPEED LIMIT VIOLATED BY CARS AND OTHER INTERNAL COMBUSTION VEHICLES