Radar detector bunk

I got stopped about 18 months ago by a county mountie for doing 49 in a 35 zone. I had just come out of a 50 zone and had disengaged the CC. So I was coasting down.

My Valentine never went off on the radar. The laser alarm did but it was too late.

Turned out the deputy was a friend of my daughter and her hubby and I got off with a warning. He laughed at my radar detector. Most of the cops are going to instant on laser. Radar is so mid 20th century.

He told me they all sit there with the laser guns aiming at traffic and just hit a button when they suspect a speeder. By then you're had. No detector is gonna save your bacon.

After that I sold the Valentine on e-bay.

If my podunk WV county can afford laser units so can yours.

 

Well after all the tickets I've gotten in the past & obviously still continue to speed I need anything that can help me. I decided to get the Beltronics Vector 940 because one of my best friends has one in his truck & I'm always with him & personally saw how many times that radar detector has already saved him.

 

I have had 4 tickets in my life.
2 with a RD and 2 without.
It's been about a year since I had a RD and have had no tickets.

I used to be a huge advocate of having them, but I also used to speed.

All a radar detector ever did was make me more nervous about driving fast because it made me think I could and not eventually get busted.

I've swallowed my juvenile ignorance and decided getting better gas mileage, and not getting speeding tickets was worth the time I save by driving too fast.

I put it like this. If I take all the time I will save by speeding and put a hourly dollar value to it, it would take a lot longer to pay for my existing speeding tickets already, let alone what I would undoubtedly get in the future.

Plus, now I just relax and drive now and don't worry about my speed.

Just my $.02

 

Radar is still used mainly by all CA Highway Patrol officers and local authorities n California. Lidar is mainly used by motorcycle police officers. My V1 saves me more than once in a day. To the OP if you are worried about laser, get a jammer they work great!

 

You may still be able to catch the errant signal from instant on radar detectors if they are hitting traffic ahead of you. I don't think that it is an invisibility cloak by any means, but it works as a nice heads up on occasion and works as a nice reminder for me to keep my speed in check. I will keep mine for now.

 

Yea, and it saves me from the lazy cop w/out instant on or laser. Right now the ratio of those w/out seems greater than those with. Could be wrong, but I'll keep mine for now as well.

 

"for what its worth...if youre coming out of a 50mph zone into a 35mph zone...you are expected to be within compliance of the 35 limit by the time you pass the sign"

Gee really? You'd think that after being a licensed driver for the last 35 years I would have known that. Gee thanks officer... /sarcasm off

I fully admit, I deserved a ticket. I got lucky that the deputy was a friend of the family. One of the bennies of living in a smallish community. The deputy had served in Army reserves with my SIL and knew my daughter from when she was a CO at the regional jail.

I no longer bother with a detector. I run a CB when on road trips and get plenty of warning from the truckers. That and I try to limit my speeding to 5 over.

 

I've never driven with a RD....and I only have one ticket for speeding- cause I was late and not paying attention on my motorcycle.

My trick is.....


























Don't go so damn fast. No speeding = No worries??

 

yeah. just slow down. usually they wont bother you if you stay under 10 over. (tolerances between the gun and your spedo)

 

Two quick things about how radars/lasers/and detectors work. A radar sends off a signal in the shape of a cone from the patrol vehicle and after something reflects the signal, it returns to the patrol vehicle and is read by the radar and gives the officer a reading of the speed. At 1,000 feet, the width of the radar cone is 400 feet. Radar dectors will only pick up a radar signal if there is some sort of reflection of the original signal. That's when you get your alert on your radar. If you're on a desolate country road, the police can have their radar on the whole time but until something breaks the plane within the radar's cone, your radar dector will ever go off (that being said about 90% of radar detectors).

As for laser, it sends out an infrared laser signal that will be approximately 4 feet wide at 1000 feet. Again, as with radar, your radar/laser detector will only go off if it happens to be within the "laser beam." Laser travels travels at 186,282 mi/sec so typically if you're hit with laser, you're dead in the water and your speed has been detected before you have a chance to slow down.

 

I know that my V1 potentially saved me three times last thursday on the way to and from a college football game when the highway patrol was set up using Ka band and pulling cars at three different locations on I-26. Gave me plenty of warning to slow down. Might not save me all the time, but paid for itself last Thursday. All I need.

 

This does not make sense. Your radar detector is picking up the signal of the radar gun itself. It does not need to reflect off of anything for it to detect the signal. I have personally picked up errant radar signals from a trooper well over a mile ahead of me on the road in west texas. I am fairly certain that it wasn't anything else being that he and I were the only ones out there.

I mostly agree with the laser comment. However, my one caviat is that you can pick up an errant reflection through a windshield. Rare, I know, but not impossible as you seem to be implying.

 

Save your money. There is nothing you can do to "detect" a laser. By the time it is detected the Officer has your speed. Radars in "patrol mode" are constant. That will be picked up. As said before, just slow down. Don't piss into the wind either.

 

I gotta agree with dont waste your money on it.



But how long does it take to get a photo radar ussually? I got a photo radar going pretty fast, so im dreadfully awaiting the ticket in the mail. Papa Bears not gonna be to happy.

 

Photo radars are active, and the 'ol radar detector should work to "remind" you to slow down. The ticket, call the local justice court and ask.

 

Slow down. I'll be 29 in a couple weeks and the last time I was stopped for speeding was when I was 16. 75 in a 55. The trooper let me off with a warning.

 

The time I save by speeding is less than the time it would take to pay for the tickets I would get...

I don't speed anymore...

 

Technically true, but laser jammers do work. Granted, it may not be worth the $600 for a complete front/rear system on a Taco, but I've had Blinder/Lidatek systems in the past on faster cars and they work like a charm. As soon as they receive the lidar signal they transmit a similar signal back, confusing the officer's gun. The trick is to slow down and disable the jammer as soon as possible so as not to attract too much unwanted attention from the officer as his gun reads "Error". Laser jammers are not illegal as light frequencies are not regulated by the FCC (unlike radar jammers).

 

i have a escort laser jamer. gives me about 10 sec to slow down after it jams their laser. saves me from tickets daily