Doppler Effect on Radio Reception?

As we were recently driving down the interstate away from the radio station we were listening to, reception got bad. One of my friends (who everyone considers dense) said if we were in the other lane, going toward the station, we'd get better reception. All the others laughed, but this got me to thinking about the doppler effect. Does the Doppler Effect have any effect on radio station reception.
- Ben (age 42)
Poplar Bluff, MO, USA

No.  Radio waves, like light, always travel at the speed of light.   The Doppler effect changes the received frequency by a very small amount but is insignificant in the case of a  moving car compared to the speed of light.

LeeH

(published on 09/15/2012)