[Earl]

Tonight I received a speeding ticket, for the first time in nine years, on my way back home from HEB, around the corner from home, thinking about dinner, and BAM! 40 MPH in a 25MPH zone...oh well, defensive driving, and I will pay the fine...I'm not a speeder for the most part, third ticket in 17 years driving, all of them similar to this one. Valentine one had mostly good reviews, how does it stack up against others? Are they worth having?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

That sucks. Sorry to hear that I hate those super slow speed trap zones.

Yea, If I were in the market for one I'd go with the Valentine.

I've learned over the years that knowing your surroundings, being aware of your speed, the speed limit, traffic flow, terrain and likely hiding spots can work just as well as any detector.

That's why I love my GPS so much; it always tells me exactly what the limit is at my current location. Because you know how there are stretches of road in some places where the limit signs are like 10 miles apart...

 

[Earl]

New to the area, just moved here, no more small town=friendly with the cops "hey, don't you work at the ford dealer?" Advantage....I probably retroactively deserve the ticket anyway

 

[XR7-4.6]

Bah, don't look at it that way, it's us vs. them. Money stolen from our pockets to keep corrupt bureaucracy moving on the grounds of specious reasoning and acquisition by way of entrapment. I didn't deserve my one and only ticket, I learned no lesson and have no regrets whatsoever about the numerous times I haven't obeyed the rules. Burn it down!:tongue:

 

[Earl]

Bah, don't look at it that way, it's us vs. them. Money stolen from our pockets to keep corrupt bureaucracy moving on the grounds of specious reasoning and acquisition by way of entrapment. I didn't deserve my one and only ticket, I learned no lesson and have no regrets whatsoever about the numerous times I haven't obeyed the rules. Burn it down!:tongue:

Now you're making me want to load the iPod up with rage against the machine, black flag, etc

 

[MadMikeyL]

I usually run pretty fast (although on the highway, not so much in 25mph zones) and I have never bothered with a radar detector. The problem with them, especially for your situation, is that a cop sitting in a speed trap doesn't have his radar sitting on, he only triggers it when he points it at someone he suspects is speeding, and at that point, all the radar detector will do is let you know about a minute in advance that you are getting pulled over. As Trunk Monkey said, being aware of your surroundings, and watching the road and other drivers can be just as good or better than any radar detector.

An example that happened to me today, I was driving down the highway about 85 in a 65, up ahead I notice a tan Crown Vic sitting in the left lane, riding someone's ass, also going about 80-85. Seeing the way it was driving, I knew it was an unmarked cop car, and I hung back far enough to just keep him in sight and paced him. A few minutes later, a silver Nissan Maxima passed me on the right going about 90mph, and I watched as he obliviously drove right up to the Crown Vic, and passed him on the right at 90mph, then watched the back window of said crown Vic light up like a Christmas tree. That is a perfect example of where a radar detector wouldn't do any good, but had the guy been paying attention, he wouldn't be stuck with an expensive ticket right now.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Yea, instant on renders detectors virtually useless; the only time it would be beneficial to have one is when the detector picks up the signal from the cop shooting the car or cars ahead of you before you get to the speed trap.

 

[Rayo]

I don't use radar detectors anymore..Haven't for years, of course I rarely go 6 mph above the speed limit on the highway, or in town..

Back roads, that's a different story..

You know what I found disturbing when I use to use a radar detector?..Some equipment used by cops can actually detect if you're using one..

So getting pulled over meant pulling it off the dash, and stuffing it under the seat quick..Just to avoid the suspicion the cop would have seeing it there..

Like I said though, a lot of times they already know you have it..

There is such a thing as a signal jammer, of course those are illegal.. :diablo:

Anyways..I found I was getting more speeding tickets with the radar detector in the car with me..

It sort of gives you that false sense of security to go as fast as you want, and in most cases like it's been said..It's too late when the damn thing actually goes off..

So I don't have any good radar detector reviews for you..Sorry.. :zdunno:






Rayo..

 

[T6Rocket]

A radar detector is still good to have when on long trips. Those instant on bursts on other cars up the road do get you on a higher alert. It is just more information, which is always good.

As long as you keep it 9 MPH over or less you should be good either way. And when the detector alerts you of a cop, you can adjust the speed down to 5 over in case he is having a bad day. But don't slam on brakes down to 10 under like some people do! Your reaction makes a big difference. If you look guilty, you probably are!

And the radar detector "detectors" are only used in states where they are illegal. Why would they care if you had one in states where they are legal?

Al

 

[Rayo]

Why would they care if you had one in states where they are legal?

Why you ask?

Picture this:

You've just been pulled over for driving 10 mph over the speed limit in a state where radar detectors are legal..

The cop walks up to your car, and looks inside your car (which they typically do)..

He notices you have a radar detector sitting on your dash..

Maybe just maybe had he known nothing about you owning a radar detector..There's that chance he might let you off with a warning..

Considering he now knows you have a radar detector sitting in your car..What do you think he's going to be thinking?

Probably that you own a device people use to evade the law, and that if you were a law abiding citizen that didn't speed you wouldn't need such a device..

Think about it..






Rayo..

 

[XR7-4.6]

I don't know why people mount detectors so low on the dash, mount it up high near the mirror and you'll get better signal and Ponch won't spot it nearly as easily

 

[warmaster259]

I run an Escort Passport 8500, it's paid for itself numerous times. Thats all i'll say on that, wouldn't own a car without one now.

 

[digitalgreasemonkey]

bob qvc

i will steal the line from bob of QVC. it is a gentle reminder to check your speed.

If you have time, you might be able to just go to court. In fulton county for a traffic ticket/parking. The officer wasn't there and they just let me go. I would have paid but i forgot, so i had to skip work to avoid getting my license suspended.

in Gwinnett county, I think they basically just gave you a discount if you came to court. i thought about trying to fight it, but i had to go out of town.

you could try blaming the cruise control and a vacuum leak. ;-) most newer cars have cruise control as low as 25.

 

[T6Rocket]

I hear ya Rayo, if I even see a cop passing, I usually take it off the dash. No question, having it out of sight helps your situation.

My point was, why would they go to the trouble of having "detectors" if they are legal anyway.

Al

 

[S4gunn]

I used to get lots of tickets when living in TX. While I don't necessarily think my driving has slowed down that much, moving to a region where the average speed of traffic is MUCH higher (aka the Bay Area, CA) has helped a lot.

I agree with Rayo that you should expect less leniency if the cop sees your detector.

I have a RD but honestly, even for long roadtrips, I don't use it. Here are my few cents:
1) You want to mount the display high up but on some cars, the tinting at the top of the windshield interferes with the radar detector. IIRC, the entire windshield is a problem for detectors as well (Audi A8).
2) I had a V1 and while they are super sensitive, the number of false positives can be super annoying for use in the city.
3) Detectors are NOT legal in all 50 states and a good chunk of Canada.
http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/laws/radar-detectors/

If you insist on throwing money at this problem, who am I to stop you? IIRC, there's a new crop of of detectors that networks together when tethered to your smartphone and uses its network connection + GPS module. This way, you can be alerted of COPs before your detector itself gets pinged. Cobra and Escort both have them.

IMO, if you are in an area where instant on is the standard operating technique, this is probably a better investment. There are SW only solutions but I think you'll get more useful data when you don't rely on self-reporting (the radar detectors send the data vs the users who shouldn't be fiddling with the smartphone while driving anyway).


-g