Do you use radar/laser detectors?

[GMBoy]

I used to use Radar detectors many years ago. To tell you how long ago,my first detector was the ESCORT - the highest ranking model in it's day. Then, I upgraded to the PASSPORT and lastly the battery powered SOLO. All made by Cincinnatti microwave, who I think is the best radar detector maker along with Valentine 1.

Anyhow - I haven't used one in 15 years. With the cops using laser now, it's so easy to spot them and just change a lane and they lose focus on you. Being alert by scanning down the road, not having a front plate (they focus on this and it reflects the signal back) and using reasonable lane discipline and not driving recklessly and you will be fine. I drive fast, but smartly.

So I don't think they are necessary.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: 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?


Don't speed = no need for a radar detector and no worries about getting pulled over.

Simple.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Sequoiasoon
Quattro Pete- $75 for the old V1 if you can find it.

Are you saying you want it?

 

[TechnoLoGs]

Originally Posted By: Sequoiasoon
LASER INTERCEPTOR might be next on list.





I like this video.

BUT, if that happened.. Wouldnt the cop, having mysteriously not got a speed reading, just come out and pull you over to see why???

 

[meep]

I used to own some old-school detector back in the day and it probably saved me a ticket or two. I bought it used for 50 bucks. I used to drive faster--- anything from at the limit to 10 over... no more than 12 over on the interstate. Back then I had smaller cars, and cars with lower CG. I was a lot more aggressive in my maneuvers than my speeds. Sharp turns, drifted ramps, and heel-toe shifts were daily for me.... in my little underpowered cars... so I sort of fit in with the sporty-driven "nice" cars in the areas I lived in. I was driving civics and subarus.... in an area of audis and bmws....

Certain roads here people usually go 5-7 over. I'll do the same just to blend in, and I'll stay closer to the right unless I want to pass.

I find it easier just to not speed. All of our vehicles are tall, none get great gas mileage, and who needs the extra risk? I can plan ahead... I might go 5 over on the interstate and around town.

I think it's more about blending in with the flow of traffic. If the crazies are out I'll actually slow down some to give me better reaction time, or let them get in front of me where I can see them.

I also think that driving larger vehicles really should be treated with more respect. They aren't as nimble, are easier to roll, and generally have more capability to cause more damage to whatever they hit. i'm also very aware of how much I hate to be tailgated by large cars/trucks, so I make an effort to NOT crawl up on someone's bumper in traffic.

Too many other things to worry about now!!

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: TechnoLoGs
BUT, if that happened.. Wouldnt the cop, having mysteriously not got a speed reading, just come out and pull you over to see why???

As was noted earlier, laser jammers are not prohibited in some parts of the country.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: TechnoLoGs
BUT, if that happened.. Wouldnt the cop, having mysteriously not got a speed reading, just come out and pull you over to see why???

They certainly could. They just would have no way to prove that you were speeding.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

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


I got a ticket for 57 in a 55mph zone once.

My Chevette's speedometer needle was bouncing back and forth between 50 and 60 so I split the difference and estimated my speed at 55....

Hey, I was close.

I've found the best way to avoid a ticket is to not be the fastest car on the road. Someone always wants to go faster than you. They are my "rabbits".

Works way better than my Radar/Laser detector. Trigger on LIDAR just makes my unit scream suddenly to tell me, "You are getting a ticket."


On a trip down I-45 (speed limit 75) I kept losing my rabbits because they were running so much faster than I was willing to go. Felt weird blowing past a State Trooper at 80 mph and having him do nothing about it.

 

[Win]

No.

 

[UNC151]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Not on my stretch of I-87 lol. 14 or under you are fine. When you hit 16 over they will start noticing you. I drive that stretch of road everyday at those speeds and pass at least one trooper every day, and they leave you alone. I've had troopers come up behind me and pass me when I'm going that fast too. 80+ and you are definitely asking for trouble though.

As I said it just depends on where you are. They recently raised the speed limit on some highways in TX to 75. If I were to drive 14 over (89), I am certain that I would receive a ticket. The same goes for some of the western states that have 70+ speed limits. In the NE, none of the speed limits are higher than 65 (unless they have changed in the past year), so the overall speed (even at 14 over) is not excessively high which may be why they tend to turn a blind eye.

 

[UNC151]

Originally Posted By: TechnoLoGs
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
I have a Beltronics that has saved me more than a few times, but detectors in general are not a "free pass" particularly with instant on radar/lasers. If you are the lead car in a pack with instant on, you are "dead meat".

I could have told you that

But, if you hear your radar going off and detecting "pops" a mile or at most two down the road.. SLOW DOWN!! I have debated gettign a detector, but could never decide which model to buy. Some people swear by valentine One, some call it outdated (Laser detection) As to the "radar detector detector detector," that is "Anti VG-2." The cops have CG-2 detectors, or the "radar detector detector. the "radar detector detector detector" is the "Anti-VG2".. and I am not sure how it works. Laser? = hard to combat, but look at the road. There is a cop aiming a laser speed measuring device out his window, like a rifle. Seen it in CT. I slowed down to 64MPM more like 55MPH and he just looked at me.. I had my high beams on so I saw him.

He was angry I saw him first but just stayed there, as I was not speeding. No radar detector needed, just watching the road, thinking "Yes they would be here," and sure enough, I was right. POP/Instant-on = Getting a ticket if you "brake check" when it goes off, it is too late.. If you can somehow hear it going off with other cars beforehand, you stand SOME chance. Assuming you are speeding. You could be doing 5MPH over in the flow of traffic on a crowded highway and be OK. Or you could be doing 1MH over on a lonely highway, and get nailed. - Right?

In another life, I was on the other side of the gun and in many ways detectors are irrelevant if the LEO knows how to operate the radar. If you are lucky you will have a blip or two on your detector that will give you some time to slow down, but it is fairly easy to see someone who is speeding in a pack of cars (even at night)--I am referring to freeways. Back in 55MPH days, our group would not write tickets for less than 20 over because if we wrote them for 10-15 we would have ran out of ticket books! The National Speed Trap Exchange is an interesting site that shows where the most common traps are.

 

[DBMaster]

Too bad speeding is not even close to the most dangerous behavior in driving. It is, however, with technology easy to catch. It is random and rather arbitrary enforcement which, IMO, does ZILCH toward improving safety on the road.

I won't bore you with what I think ought to be enforced, more vigorously and consistently, in anonymous looking cars, not patrol cars.

I know it's not about revenue, but that's all it's really good for.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Too bad speeding is not even close to the most dangerous behavior in driving. It is, however, with technology easy to catch. It is random and rather arbitrary enforcement which, IMO, does ZILCH toward improving safety on the road.

I won't bore you with what I think ought to be enforced, more vigorously and consistently, in anonymous looking cars, not patrol cars.

I know it's not about revenue, but that's all it's really good for.

I'm not sure the contribution to safety is actually zero, but other than that I strongly agree with all of this.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: TechnoLoGs
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
In Ontario the radar would also have to sweep the sky, as cops use small planes to watch for speeders.


Though I have seen the signs, I have never once seen a speed-enforcement copter.

I thought some cops just sat on the side of the road, then radioed to a unit ahead if the saw a speeder so THEY could pick them up??

Also, in Ohio, no radar is needed to cite for speeding.


They don't bother with helos for speed enforcement.
Way too expensive to operate.
They also don't bother with radar.
All they need are a couple of stop watches.
In Ohio, the state cops have used Cessnas.
A single engine Censsna is cheap enough to operate to be a practical speed enforcement, or revenue raising, tool, operated in connection with few cruisers on the ground.
I got such a ticket around Mansfield once, for around fifteen, maybe twenty over.
If you see lines painted accross the road, there is a possibility that they're there for timing your passage from above.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: TechnoLoGs
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
In Ontario the radar would also have to sweep the sky, as cops use small planes to watch for speeders.


Though I have seen the signs, I have never once seen a speed-enforcement copter.

I thought some cops just sat on the side of the road, then radioed to a unit ahead if the saw a speeder so THEY could pick them up??

Also, in Ohio, no radar is needed to cite for speeding.


They don't bother with helos for speed enforcement.
Way too expensive to operate.
They also don't bother with radar.
All they need are a couple of stop watches.
In Ohio, the state cops have used Cessnas.
A single engine Censsna is cheap enough to operate to be a practical speed enforcement, or revenue raising, tool, operated in connection with few cruisers on the ground.
I got such a ticket around Mansfield once, for around fifteen, maybe twenty over.
If you see lines painted accross the road, there is a possibility that they're there for timing your passage from above.


They had lines painted across the pavement like that in Georgia. No matter how good your radar detector is, it isn't going to detect the stopwatch in the Cessna.

Occasionally, you'll see a helmeted head poking up over the wall on an overpass. Closer inspection will reveal the LIDAR gun he or she is using. You may not notice Officer Stealthy hiding out there but you will see the line of cruisers and cop-sicles staged on the entrance ramp after passing under the overpass. Big line o' citations.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Too bad speeding is not even close to the most dangerous behavior in driving. It is, however, with technology easy to catch. It is random and rather arbitrary enforcement which, IMO, does ZILCH toward improving safety on the road.

I won't bore you with what I think ought to be enforced, more vigorously and consistently, in anonymous looking cars, not patrol cars.

I know it's not about revenue, but that's all it's really good for.


This.

It is a known fact that most states do not even use the applicable laws and statutes to develop speed limits. Instead they arbitrarily choose limits based on whatever they want. Sometimes it IS about revenues.

I have a large client base of Florida LEO's, both active and retired. At one time long ago I worked in that field. I have both heard and heard of lectures involving revenue generation being a primary focus, especially for a smaller department.

We have tons of moving vehicle statutes yet we tend to only enforce speeding? With a little thought you can figure it out.

The insurance companies are in on this. GEICO actually distributed radar guns to smaller departments, as it was good for "business".

Someone will get it...

 

[DBMaster]

On top of that, EVERY time I see a patrol car in the highway shoulder I see drivers slamming on brakes, making abrupt lane changes, and slowing down BELOW the speed limit.

How does THAT promote safety. You take a "relatively" smoothly flowing roadway and turn it into an instant snarl.

Ridiculous!

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
This.

It is a known fact that most states do not even use the applicable laws and statutes to develop speed limits. Instead they arbitrarily choose limits based on whatever they want. Sometimes it IS about revenues.

I have a large client base of Florida LEO's, both active and retired. At one time long ago I worked in that field. I have both heard and heard of lectures involving revenue generation being a primary focus, especially for a smaller department.

We have tons of moving vehicle statutes yet we tend to only enforce speeding? With a little thought you can figure it out.

The insurance companies are in on this. GEICO actually distributed radar guns to smaller departments, as it was good for "business".

Someone will get it...


I was insured with Geico about twenty years ago. At that time you had to swear that you did not own a radar detector for them to cover you. Apparently, they decided that the only reason you would have one is to speed and you were, therefore, a higher risk driver. At the time (mid to late 80's) a study indicated that drivers with radar detectors tended to be more attentive and actually got into FEWER accidents. Believe who you want, but the way in which we attempt to improve "safety" is laughable.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
On top of that, EVERY time I see a patrol car in the highway shoulder I see drivers slamming on brakes, making abrupt lane changes, and slowing down BELOW the speed limit.

How does THAT promote safety. You take a "relatively" smoothly flowing roadway and turn it into an instant snarl.

Ridiculous!


I sometimes think everyone else on the road is a complete moron. I mean, everyone knows you can do 5 over, and not be hassled. Most know that it is more like 10 over during rush hour. Yet I see the same behavior, luckily not all the time. Some people lack the capacity to learn, or think, or something.

Last night I had something similar irk me: cooking down the highway, coming along to a spot where they like to hide. No one was on their brakes, so I thought it was fine. Nope, he was hiding there. Didn't snag me, but I thought it was curtesy to tap the brakes for everyone behind you, when you notice them hiding in the bushes.

 

[cptbarkey]

speeding (and having a need for a radar detector) is immature, selfish and dangerous. period.

that said, i owned one back in the 90's when they actually worked and were useful and drove over the speed limit because i was immature, selfish, and dangerous.