Do you use radar/laser detectors?

[TechnoLoGs]

Back in the 90s, it seemed as though everybody had a radar detector. Cobra, Escort, etc.

Nw, with Laser and VG-2, I either don't see them OR the "concealed" units don't work all that great. Better have an on/off switch, too, in case they come sniffing for the radar detector you have. (They are illegal in a small percentage of areas and cops can get a "VG2 hit" and follow you and stop you to look for it.)

K40 seems to be a bad product.

What say you?

*I myself, I can usually pay attention to the road, and more often than not "spot" where a cop would be. Sometimes, they switch it up.. Staying in the breakdown lane of a highway, or all the way to the left, parked right alongside all the high speed traffic, where your eyes may not be trained to see them, and if you were speeding, they have you if they want you! But usually, overpasses, hills in the road.. You can tell where they "would" be, most of the time.

And in Indiana, I-70, the two-lane highways, when the county officers are sitting there in usually their Durangos, basically everyone slows down. Speed limit is 70, some do 70 past some do 65...

What say you?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Nowadays, with cops using laser, it's hard to detect them in advance. The solution may be a jammer, but these are of course illegal.

Thankfully I grew out of excessive speeding, so a radar detector is of little use to me. I still have an older ValentineOne sitting around somewhere in the basement.

 

[punisher]

It is a combination of things.

I am older, and not in nearly as much of a hurry as I was in my younger days. Plus, Texas bumped speed limits last year and I pretty much drive the limit without problems.

When I was younger, especially my college years, I had an Escort that saved my driver's license and a lot of money. It paid for itself many times over.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I go the speed limit ..

 

[zzyzzx]

Just don't go more than 8MPH over the limit and you will probably be fine. No detector needed. IMO, they are useless anyway.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Nowadays, with cops using laser, it's hard to detect them in advance. The solution may be a jammer, but these are of course illegal.

Radar jammers are illegal because they broadcast radio waves without a license.

Laser jammers are legal (unless specifically banned).


Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Thankfully I grew out of excessive speeding

What are you saying?

 

[sir1900]

I say drive the at or slightly above the speed limit and that will save you the cost of buying a radar detector. With most speed traps using laser, most detectors don't sound the warning until its too late.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Laser jammers are legal (unless specifically banned).

Thanks. Didn't know that.

Quote:

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Thankfully I grew out of excessive speeding

What are you saying?

I'm saying that I don't drive more than 10 mph over the limit or I just keep up with traffic.

 

[d00df00d]

On the original question: I use a Valentine 1. Can't say it has saved me from anything but speed signs, but I know it only has to save me once to pay for itself (speeding conviction = points = higher insurance premiums).

That said, even the best radar detector is just a tool. Unless you're using it right, it's useless or even counterproductive. All it does is add a little heads-up in certain situations. You still have to be on the ball.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Quote:

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Thankfully I grew out of excessive speeding

What are you saying?

I'm saying that I don't drive more than 10 mph over the limit or I just keep up with traffic.

I know. I was trying to make a joke at my own expense. I guess what I should have posted was "what are you saying about excessive speeders??"

 

[Donald]

Son-in-law who is a cop and can deal with my tickets. But I too never go over 8 MPH over. But a looked at my Garmin GPS max speed saved and it said I was more like 15 MPH over the limit at least once.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
I guess what I should have posted was "what are you saying about excessive speeders??"

They'll grow out of it eventually, too.

 

[SrDriver]

I am over 70 and have a Vector 995 Radar Detector in both vehicles my wife and I own.

In this area even if you are a few miles over the speed limit you will get a ticket that runs about $200.00.

A radar detector is not a 100% protection device as sometimes you run into instant on radar or Laser but really not that often.

Some parts of the country are using speed cameras too. We have red light cameras both just south of here in Florida on 231 and in Montgomery.

I try and drive the speed limit but the detector makes one more aware and has saved me more times than I can count.

Money well spent.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d


Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Thankfully I grew out of excessive speeding

What are you saying?

Yes, it could happen to you too.....

 

[Blaze]

Don't they make a radar detector detector detector,, lol?

 

[Burt]

Nowadays, you can get a phone app "Trapster.com" and it gives you alerts on where the police are.

 

[crw]

I actually bought one about a year ago, just for the experience. I don't normally speed, hardly at all. But there is one stretch of highway that I might take, once in a while, where I've been pulled over for going 60 in a 55... sigh. It's the most flat, straight, wide open and safe highways around, but it also happens to be an Indian reservation. Actually, several times I've been pulled over there (over the span of 20 years), it's just a matter of the road is posted too low for what it's capable of. I bought the detector just for this road, which I might drive on twice a month.

One thing that I've learned, is that the detector makes me a safer and more alert driver. I've also noticed that I'm being watched much less than I originally thought.

 

[Astro14]

When the national speed limit was 55, the public felt preyed upon by excessive enforcement (pulled over for 60...).

Now that reasonableness has returned to speed limits, and gas is more expensive, most folks drive closer to the limit and don't get ticketed as much. Couple that with the nature of LIDAR and POP...which are difficult to counter, the market no longer exists...

 

[crw]

Example, on the road I cite above, I'm coming home one night and get behind an old vehicle going about 45 in the 55. When I find the chance, I pass. In the process of passing, my speed rises to 65... and just as I'm coming back into the right lane, boom, I'm toast. Experiences like that are what caused me to buy the detector.

Technically, am I speeding? Yes. However, when you pass a vehicle and you have to move into the opposite direction lane for a period of time, when you do this I believe you should GO! You should step on it and get the passing done as quickly as possible and get back into your proper lane! It's times like this when common sense doesn't jive completely with "the law" when I will take any help I can get.

 

[expat]

There was a Crack-down here by the local Police a few years back, ticketing people for just a few Kph over the limit in low risk areas. MANY people started to contest the tickets in court (costing the courts $$)
Pretty soon it seems they backed off, and it seems you have to do something really stupid to get a ticket now.

Power to the people!