Radar / Laser Detectors

[Shovelhead]

EMDDIESEL,

If you travel in the southern states you also need to memorize the headlights for 5 liter Mustangs, and Z-28 Cameros 'cuz they're in use in Virginia by the State boys as well as the Carolinas, and Georiga.

 

[Thunderball]

Hey Guys

As I said my only issue with a Radar Detector is, Will I be able to here it. I like to know if the V1 or any other radar unit is loud, or at lease not a beep beep, you know like some of these new phones. Heck I can't even here my own cell phone ring, I have it on vibrate.



Hey EMD I was on the NJ turnpike for the first time, this past weekend. Man what a road, I feel for ya. Went to CT, to see my daughter. My first time pass DC on I-95 North. You need a radar unit going north on 95, And what up with New York, the roads are all to peaces, I though I would lose my Dodge in some of the holes. And we do have VASCAR down here.



I'am not just worryed about a tickets, I like all the other features as well. I just want to make sure I can here it go off.



Hellow to Shovelhead, my fellow Virginian

 

[Shovelhead]

Hello Thunderball,

Now you know that radar detectors are illegal in Virginia

You have to figure out a "stealth" mounting location so the "bears" don't get 'ya

 

[EMDDIESEL]

The Valentine one is definatley one of the loudest radar detectors i have heard. I can hear it over everything. And they make a remote display for it (About 30 bucks) that you could use to hide the lights from the police.

 

[WOT]

Valentine 1



There is no substitue. I have had it for about 6 years (first model with the laser detector). Dropped it about 2 years ago and broke a couple of LEDs in it. Shipped it back to their shop and they fixed it and returned in 1 week no questions asked. THEY STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT.

 

[merryman]

Two things;



1)As a long time Judge, I used to talk to Ore. State Cops a bit. They loved the guys who used the detectors; brought them lots of business. They leave the radar off, till you are in sight, flip it on and get your speed before you can slow down.



2) Several years ago, a magazine--think it was popular mechanics, ran a test. Two professional race drivers drove between two cities a couple hundred miles apart. One was instructed to obey the speed limits, the other was instructed to get there as fast as safely possible.

Can't recall the difference in time now, but withing very FEW minutes. The guy speeding was basically wasting his time.

I have paid attention to this also. Drive like a bat out of--- pass cars right and left and miles down the road, one of those cars is right behind me at a light. Your are not accomplishing as much as you would think by pushing it.



Vaughn

 

[Koa Man]

I think unless you are really pushing it on the highway, you have a greater chance of getting a speeding ticket in the 25-35 mph zones. These are usually the areas the cops like to set up speed traps. Most of these streets could SAFELY handle traffic speeds 10-15 mph higher. 85% of the people will normally drive at a comfortable and safe speed regardless of what the speed limit is.

Not much you can do about instant on radar if you are the first vehicle in line. As far as laser is concerned, which is used exclusively in Hawaii, a good laser jammer can and will defeat it. Laser detectors on the other hand, is almost useless since the beam is relatively small. If you have a laser detector mounted on your dash and the police targets your lic. plate at around 500 ft. (the usual shooting range) your detector will probably not even go off. Just the opposite is true with radar. Radar jammers for autos don't work, but detectors do.

 

[Bigsaint]

Good post Vaughn, or, a ... should I say Your Honor



Koa Man is dead on, if I want to write speeders, which is usually not the case, but anyhow, a 35 MPH zone is the place to sit. Every other car (notice I said CAR) is doing at least 10-15 over the limit, easy pickings. Ask most people that drive on both country lanes and major highways where they have received the majority of tickets and I bet the reply is country lanes.



Here's another little know fact... You can receive a summons for flashing drivers to warn of a cop ahead, in NJ at least. In the days of my youth, when such activites really bothered me, we would run at night with one car stationary, running instant on radar, and another mobile, in the area of the stationary car. When the mobile car was 'flashed' by on coming motorists, he/she would be stopped and issued a summons for either improper use of multiple headlamps or flashing lights prohibited. Now, before you all get yourselves into a lather, relax, I don't do it anymore, it was just one of those rookie kind of things. Now I just do this when someone flashes and understand that it's part of human nature .



Scott W.

 

[Briar Hopper]

In some states, law enforcement can bust you for "obstruction of justice" just for flashing your lights...

Merryman makes a VERY valid observation about speeders and reckless drivers not getting there any faster, he is correct.

FOR THE RECORD : I use a radar detector to make sure I'm within the limit on the interstate, any time there is a cop around... not to speed on purpose...

My biggest gripe is the Gestapo-like overzealous enforcement of limits on state and county roads in Kentucky. It really is excessive, several cop friends have complained privately to me about the pressure the state puts on their departments. The Democrat governor of this state ramrodded a bill through the state house, giving more money to local departments for manpower, new cruisers, etc. but attached quotas to it as a condition of getting the money. And the people of this state just sat back and accepted it, like sheep. A few bleatings are heard every now and then when the tickets increase.

Even worse is the propaganda they feed into the minds of the young state police recruits. I've sat through some of it, and though I can't hear what they're saying, what I'm seeing on screen and in print is so skewed, it's frightening.

An example of "overzealous enforcement" : I'll use what happened to me as an example. There is one stretch of two-lane I take to get to work, it is wide and smooth, has broad shoulders, no dangerous turns or blind intersections.

On a Monday, a state trooper pulled me over on that road as I was going home from work. Limit is 55, I was doing 60. And that is what the ticket got written for, 5 over the limit.

On Wednesday of that week, going IN to work, I got pulled over on the same stretch by a different trooper. Was doing 62. Both instances were on a downhill section where you HAVE TO BRAKE to keep from exceeding the limit, and they all know that.

In effect, a "baited field" for them, like shooting fish in a barrel.

They have kept it up for over 2 years now, still very,very heavy enforcement on that particular stretch of road... .

It's a game... . where the insurance companies have us over a barrel, and their hand-in-hand cooperation with the government can easily cost otherwise law-abiding citizens their licenses or thousands of dollars... and the sheep in this country just sit back and bleat, then go back to grazing, without doing anything about it... .

 

[JR2]

Guys I have to agree with you on the speeding thing. You will not save time speeding. Now I must admit that I speed (just to keep up with the flow) and I have a radar dectector. It saves me from probably one ticket per month. Now for the bad news... it is a 10 year old whistler something or other. It cost me about 50 bucks and it works like a champ.



By the way, the only speeding ticket I ever got was in Fort Nelson British Columbia and I did not have my dector then.

 

[WOT]

Just for the record, I have been hit by laser dozens of times and have never gotten a ticket from it. I can usually pick it up ahead of time if a car is in front that is getting zapped. There have been many times I have been the one in front and the Valentine 1 has amazed me - no tickets, always managed to slow down enough. The way this was explained to me is that all radar/laser speed sensor sample at least 3 times and if there is not much variance in the three samples then it assumes it to be an accurate reading and displays the speed. If you are accelerating or decelerating rapidly the variance is great enough to make it think it doesn't have an accurate reading. I always slow down quickly and don't let off the brakes until I am at or near the speed limit. This doesn't mean lock 'em up - that will certainly get you a ticket!



Anyway, I don't travel more that 10-15 over the speed limit on the highway and seldom over the speed limit in town. I usually base my speed on the vehicles around me.



It is not speeding that is unsafe, it is driving at a speed much FASTER or SLOWER than the traffic around you. In my opinion it is much better to maintain the flow of traffic than to impeed it or become a fool that is zig-zagging to the left & right to try to get ahead.

 

[Koa Man]

This quote is from the Radar Reporter website:

"The laser beam is not visible to the eye. The beam may reflect off any stationary or moving object and "may" be detectable by a laser detector (sometimes). The laser will not go around corners or over hills. It does not bend or spray the countryside like radar. The laser beam is only detectable while the trigger is being depressed, and the detecting device is in a straight line to the laser beam.

If a vehicle is targeted at very close range, (1000 ft) very little of the laser beam will travel beyond that vehicle.

If the laser beam hits the road ahead of you, your detector will not pick it up. If the gun targets a vehicle beside you, at less than 1000 ft, you won't get a beep. If you are first in line, the speed reading is instantaneous! A vehicle some 150 ft behind you with a laser detector may get no warning if the front vehicle is large enough. This means that the very best laser detector will be less than a 50/50 bet to save you. "



WOT, if you were first in line and got zapped by laser, they got a speed reading on you, but you probably weren't going fast enough to bother with. A cop friend told me they usually will not bother ticketing someone 9 mph or less over the speed limit. They like to get a "good" one... 15 mph or better. He was surprised the laser jammer on my truck actually worked and he could not get a speed reading, if he targeted my front lic. plate, which is the area they are trained to shoot first. He could easily get a reading if he targeted the big shiny aluminum headboard of my flatbed. I have the Blinder M10 laser jammer/detector and the second it goes off, I immediately slow to the posted limit, as I know if the cop could not get a reading on my lic plate on the first shot, the next one would be on my headboard. Like you, I try to drive as safely as possible and haven't gotten a ticket since 1989.

 

[groundpounder]

I think radar detectors are a great idea! Lets you know when radar is being used in the area. Here in MD I use Laser every now and again however I personally find it awkword. I love vascar when the traffic is right however my true love is my Genisis hand held. Oh Baby. I always like to say this about being stopped by the Police, always be nice even when you think your right. You will always argue yourself into a mess and not out of one. And instead of being mad at the police officer for giving you the ticket, be thankfull that you never received one for all the other times you did something wrong and was never caught!! P. S. If you can afford it go with the V-1

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Good advice on NOT to argue. Out of the 6 speeding tickets i have gotten in my 11 years driving. I was always nice, and the officer always wrote down a speed ALOT less then i was really going. The last time i was stopped for speeding the officer just gave me a seatbelt ticket instead. Ill pay 75 bucks for that, as opposed to alot more for a speeding ticket, plus point and you insurance increase. My record was when i was 19, i was pulled over doing 118 in a 45mph zone in NY at like 3am. I thought the cop was just going to shoot me right there on the spot. I did not even try to make up an excuse, i just told him, "i know i am driving like an idiot, i have no excuse" He was actually super nice. He said "I am glad you stopped, because i would have never caught you if you did'nt" In the end, after he was done admiring my Trans Am he said, "I am going to write you for 64 in a 45. Go to court and ill take care of it". Cool, i went to court a few weeks later, he did not show, case dissmissed. I learned my lesson. I still look for him to thank him. It pays to be nice.

 

[BLACKRAM]

V-1.