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radar detectors..anybody has one??

L

laFiera

Senior member
man, in my 10 yrs of driving never gotten a speeding ticket. I don't really speed too much. Once in a while i might be desperate to get someplace and i try to keep it 10-15 above speed limit. Within a month's time i 've gotten two speeding tickets; one irritated me b/c it was 2am, and i was doing 65 on a 50mph zone and i was the only vehicle (except for cop car) in sight. Anyway, now i'm really considering of getting a radar detector b/c if i continue my streak, i might have 12 tickets by the end of th eyear 😀
do you guys have any advice when looking for one....hell..do they even work???
txs
ps. i love the officers remarks, "son you were going at dangerous speeds" (65mph??please)---i work in the hospital, and most people coming thru the er involved in wrecks is mainly b/c of bad maneuvers or intoxicated while driving...haven't seen one yet where the cause was speeding...oh well!
 
valentine1, pretty much regarded as the best, but it's 400 bucks

there's another radar detector, top end of their line too, 300 bucks, almost as good as the v1 not quite


don't bother getting el cheapo radar detectors, you'll throw it out the window over the frustration caused by false alarms

i'll try to dig up some links for you



here you go
 
I had one several years ago. It worked well enough to let me know the cop was tagging me, but not a chirp before. It might have been because he had just crested over a hill. Man that experience pissed me off. I slowed down and was in my driveway by the time he turned around and caught up with me. I should have gassed it instead and tried to make it into the garage. The ticket was 73 in a 55.
 
When there's no one else on the road, they're not much good, because they will generally use instant on mode to surprise detector users.

That said, with the brain in your head and a Valentine 1, you should be able to avoid most tickets.

I also recommend reading a book by a retired NY state trooper called The Speeder's Guide to Avoiding Tickets. Search Amazon for that title, or Engle, the author.

Car and Driver recently tested Radar detectors in the February issue (The Great Detector Test). History repeats and the Valentine 1 wins by a lot, followed by the Escort, and then a model by BEL. The Uniden, Whistler, and Cobra were relatively worthless.
 


<< you'll throw it out the window over the frustration caused by false alarms >>


Actually the V1 in one of the latest C&D had a huge amount of false alarms compared to the others. Then they still rated it #1 which was odd to me.
EDIT: Oh I see the ranges are different. I never used one and never been caught so I don't see any need to get one.
 
I really think that if you take the average person and give them a detector they'll get more tickets because their speeding will go up dramatically. Anyone have any stats on that?

 
One thing's for sure: Cops don't like detectors, so if you do get pulled over and he sees it, your chance of getting let by with a warning just dropped to absolute zero.
 
I have an Escort Passport 7500 (one model below the 8500), and its been great. I did get a speeding ticket (well, I definitely got saved a few times) for 80 in a 60 - but the cop wasn't using radar..so I don't think any detector woulda helped.
 
They don't give warning anyway. At least, that's the case in LA.
So if you speed a lot, you might as well consider getting one.
 
I have a Bell, but I rely on smart driving a lot more. I usually don't go 10 mph more than the flow of traffic. And never speed alone. I love taunting rice boys because they'll floor it and smoke out the cops for me.
 


<< One thing's for sure: Cops don't like detectors, so if you do get pulled over and he sees it, your chance of getting let by with a warning just dropped to absolute zero. >>

That's pretty much true.

What of these jammers? I saw one recently, some link off of cnn - can't find it now - but it was $300 and legal in the majority of states. it's a detector plus radar & laser jammer.
 
The passive jammers which are legal (in some states, not mine), don't work. The illegal ones, that actually broadcast, can work very well. The main reason they're illegal is because the FCC controls their broadcast frequencies, and they'd never approve such a device.
 
like i said, in 10 yrs, i finally got a speedkign ticket...
don't normallyspeed too much ..what irritates me is that if i were a cop, and i pulled over somebody speeding fo rthe first time, i would give them a warning...(don't those register on the cops record for next time?); given teh fact that is two am, and nobody else on the street either, i would think that he would be more merciful; i could see though if i was speeding in rush traffic--that would be careless, etc, etc. So i don't buy the crap that if they see a detector they will not give u a warning...bs..i got a ticket and my first one in 10 yrs 🙂 no warning at all!!!!
 
Well, I never said they would definitely give you a warning if you didn't have a detector. I said they would definitely give you a ticket if you did. Two different things.

And I wouldn't exactly call 15 MPH over in a 50 zone warning territory. Did you give the cop any attitude? Try to argue with him? Ask him a question about how he does his job? Even give him a dirty look? If you did, that?s one more reason you got a ticket. I?ve gotten off with warnings and had the ticket written for a reduced amount over numerous times by pretty much sitting there and saying nothing, except yes, no, and ?here?s my license, do you need to see my insurance card??

My advice: Every word you say increases your chance of getting a ticket written for the full amount that you were speeding. And make sure he doesn't see the lights or cord from your detector.
 


<< I'm a subscriber to C&D and am very disappointed that they ranked the V1 over the 8500; although, it doesn't surprise me. Valentine and C&D have been in bed together for years. Valentine has been purchasing large amounts of advertising space in C&D for a long time. >>

Maybe you haven't noticed for the past ten years, but so has Escort.
 
I have a Uniden LR767 and it works pretty good. You do have to use your brain though to remember where the usual false alarm points are and so on, but in most cases it gives me enough worning to drop to a speed limit. I was surprised to see how many times I found a cop sitting in traffic with his radar gun on..
Uniden just came out with a combo detector/GPS unit that knows the typical speedtrap locations and also remembers false alarms on your usual routes so it can filter them out. Looks like an interetsing gadget but I don't fell like paying $200 for it right now.
 
LaFiera: I don't bother using my detector anymore because everytime I see a cop clocking people in dallas, it's with a laser. I'm not sure on this, but I've read claims that laser detection is virtually worthless since it doesn't diverge and bounce around as much as the radar pulses do. I used a bel 745sti rated #1 a few years back by motor trend or someone and it gave some false signals but still picked up many more radar hits than laser. In 5 years, I only got about 4 laser hits. YMMV
 
I've found that donating to the state police fraternity is a MUCH better deterrent than a radar detector at avoiding speeding tickets. All you need to do is donate $25, and you get this nice sticker to put in your window stating that you are a "friend of da man".

The idea is simple... Be nice to the cops, and they'll be nice to you! When I used a radar detector, I got two tickets in a nine month period. I get caught in speed traps that my detector couldn't catch, and the cops never even considered giving me a warning. Once I got rid of the radar detector and put in a police fraternity sticker, I haven't been pulled over since.
 
Mine used to be only good to let me know there was a grocery store with automatic doors......with the newer "pulse" radar, by the time it goes off you are already caught.....and when you get pulled over they say "hmmm....a radar detector...planning on speeding today?"
 
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