Radar Detectors

[05level2]

Been thinking about getting a radar detector, but not sure what the best brand/model is. Just wondering if anyone knows what ones are good and what ones not to waste money on?

 

[Ozwynn]

they are all a waste of money. nothing replaces vigilance. slow down and don't speed, best way not to get a ticket.

http://www.ehowa.com/mythoughts/nospeeding.shtml

just copy and paste the link if it doesn't work, I'm too lazy to insert it. particularly read the part about radar detectors.

 

[LittleBigFoot]

Driving with out a radar detector is like having sex with out a condom. Eventually you're gonna get something you don't want.


In reality, the best radar detector is to shave down that led foot

 

[Evan]

A radar detector will give you a false sense of security and set you up for a big ticket if you're lucky.

If you're unlucky, you'd get into an accident and kill or injure yourself or even worse someone else. If you are found to be speeding excessively and you seriously injure or kill someone, you'll go to jail.

Don't excessivly speed. Believe it or not, the limits are actually there for a reason. It's not worth it to get somewhere 5 minutes faster.

 

[Ozwynn]

A radar detector will give you a false sense of security and set you up for a big ticket if you're lucky.

If you're unlucky, you'd get into an accident and kill or injure yourself or even worse someone else. If you are found to be speeding excessively and you seriously injure or kill someone, you'll go to jail.

Don't excessivly speed. Believe it or not, the limits are actually there for a reason. It's not worth it to get somewhere 5 minutes faster.

He speaks the truth. Also, if you get pulled over for speeding and you have a radar detector you will always get a ticket and the prosecutor will always get a conviction. If you don't have a radar detector you might get out of the ticket and may be able to negotiate with the prosecutor for a lessor fine with no points. The only time I have not beaten a radar ticket was the only time I did not have enough time to hide my radar detector.

 

[compleckz]

the two radar detectors most commonly refered to as the best are the escort passport 8500, and the valentine one.

first off, my friend has a V1, and it tells you what direction the radar signal is coming from, which is a pretty useful tool.. you know whether to slow down, book it, or get off the road and book it! he used to have an 8500, and says the V1 is 'better', but its not like he had them hooked up side by side and compared..

i personally have a passport 8500, and have been using it for about 6-7 years, and it has saved me countless times. i've been rough with it, and its still working good to this day, occasionally it overheats in the sun or with the defrost on, and has to recalibrate itself.. i have swapped it between many vehicles, and i always grab it when i go out in a friends car (they are too cheap to buy one).

if you cant afford one of the best, dont bother getting one at all, because the cheapos will constantly be going off falsely and will drive you nuts.. i know 2 kids that had $40 whistler brand ones from wal*mart, they are useless.

but as i always tell my friends, its a radar detector, not a cop detector (friends will ask why it isnt going off when a cop drives by). smart cops do not drive around with their radar on, they either use instant-on or manually flip it on when they suspect someone is speeding. so you still have to be smart about where you speed, and learn to spot the possible hiding places. MA state cops NEVER have it on while driving around, i'd say 1/3 of the town cops in my area do, and they also have it on constantly while trying to catch speeders (our small town guns must not have an instant-on feature, or they dont know it exists)..

but they are especially useful on the highway, and i have gotten readings from at least a mile away before. K and especially KA bands will reflect off other cars like crazy and you can pick up the signal and slow down for a few miles.. x band has ALWAYS been automatic doors, or ambulances, or other random things, i have never once had X band be police radar.. (in the following states at least: NY, MA, ME, VT, NH, CT, NJ).. the better detectors you can choose to turn off X band, or it has a mode select between City and Highway, so you can turn X off for the city or whatever you want..

all in all i would say they are a good investment if you're gonna speed anyways, but you need to be smart about it still as i said. i don't let my girlfriend use it because as soon as i plug it in she feels invincible (she says it herself), and will speed like crazy. 2 new years ago we were in my friends car, and he got busted bad, with the radar detector. the cop sat up the road in a driveway, and flicked it on when he saw us, the radar detector exploded, but it was way too late. so as i said, you still need to be smart WHERE you speed.

in closing, speeding is bad don't do it. *cough*

 

[Twitch57]

knowing the roads helps too
after a while you can pretty much memorized all of the cops hiding spots
its not 100% safe - but its close

 

[compleckz]

it takes 2 seconds to hide the detector (done it a million times), they arent illegal in MA, but you're more likely to get off it they dont see it. the story i told in my last post, the kid got a ticket, and got off in court, despite the cop seeing the radar detector (i was in the back seat so i couldn't grab it).

and yes it gives some people a false sense of security, and if you are an idiot, you will get caught. i dont want to say i havent gotten a ticket for speeding, or ever been pulled over for it, because i dont want to jinx myself.. i'll let you figure out if i have or not from that.

i have gotten out of every other ticket i've fought, its really easy around here i guess.

speeding is obviously dangerous, this guy dosent need a lecture, he wants to know about radar detectors. lifting a truck is dangerous too, for you and for other drivers, but if you're smart about driving, you wont kill yourself and others. its the same thing. and each is worse the faster or higher you go, speed lightly, lift lightly?

anyways:
escort passport 8500 (the new model is has x50 in the name too)
valentine 1

 

[Evan]

lifting a truck is dangerous too, for you and for other drivers, but if you're smart about driving, you wont kill yourself and others. its the same thing. and each is worse the faster or higher you go, speed lightly, lift lightly?

Speeding is ILLEGAL.

Lifting a truck is not, provided you follow lift laws.

Excessive speeding is MUCH more dangerous than driving a correctly lifted truck at the posted speed limit.

Don't compare the two. It's rediculous. You can't speed and be smart about driving, as speeding is stupid in and of itself. It's identical to saying, "Drunk driving is ok, as long as you're smart about it."

 

[JohnnyO]

I have a Valentine One, I like it real well. Saved me many times over what I paid for it in speeding tickets.
It also detects laser but if it goes off for laser and you're the only car around, you're dead, just pull over and hand your license out the window. I know this to be true. Your only hope is that they shoot laser at a vehicle in front of you first.

Speeding is ILLEGAL.

And some speed limits are artificially low to make money for towns and states too. Sometimes the law is wrong.

Excessive speeding is MUCH more dangerous than driving a correctly lifted truck at the posted speed limit.

Excessive, yes. Depends on your definition of excessive. Running 80 mph on most Interstates in a safe and properly maintained vehicle is perfectly okay. The majority of Interstates were designed back in 1957 for safe travel at 80 mph in a '57 Chevy. That said, I'll be the first one to say that there are parts of the PA Turnpike so curvy that doing 65 mph is pushing your luck.

You can't speed and be smart about driving

Sure you can. My rule of thumb, if you don't make another driver do something they wouldn't do otherwise, you're fine. In my case, that never happens.

 

[compleckz]

It also detects laser but if it goes off for laser and you're the only car around, you're dead, just pull over and hand your license out the window. I know this to be true. Your only hope is that they shoot laser at a vehicle in front of you first.

so true, the ONE TIME i was hit with laser, a cop testing his gun in front of the state police barracks (so obviously i wasnt speeding), i nearly pissed myself, as i had never heard the laser go off before..

since then weird things have set off laser, like blowing the horn and using the wipers (in different cars too).. and also laser explodes in my friends 06 wrx when he goes wide open throttle, but only sometimes, now that is scary--floor it, BAM laser.. hehe

evan we know you're just mad cuz you drive a lifted truck and a focus, and you cant speed in either speeding is illegal, but you wont get pulled over for 1mph over, lifting is legal to a point, and you will get rejected for 1 inch over. so if you like comparisons that make little sense, i just made another up for you. if you skim over it really fast it sounds like i made some sense in there.

i refuse to argue like an idiot online so:
i speed smart, neener, neener, neener.

 

[kunar]

i refuse to argue like an idiot online so:
i speed smart, neener, neener, neener.

lmao. ive got a cobra and i dont like it. it broke within a couple months so i had it replaced under warranty. the new one is also now broken after another 6 months or so. i should be able to replace that one too, i just havent. and for those that protest 'speeding is dangerous!' that has no relevance around here where the speed limit is 60 on I-475 and the regular pace of traffic is 70-75 mph at rush hour. excessive speeding is dangerous. dont do it. period. now having a radar detector for back up is fine, just dont let it give you that false sence of invincibility like previously stated.

 

[Turbo-T]

Laser is a narrow beam. It has a gun sight on the top. The cop can target a specific vehicle. Friend of mine thought he was smart. He knew the cop was there, so he was using a semi to shield him as he was passing the parked cop. Got pulled over anyway. He asked the cop how he could get him with the truck between them. The cop said with the laser it's easy. Just shoot under the truck.
I've never owned a detector. Haven't had a speeding ticket in 25 years. I always stay with traffic and never be first in line. I can always find a couple of cars that are going 5 or 10 over.

 

[05level2]

i refuse to argue like an idiot online so:
i speed smart, neener, neener, neener.

hahahahahahahah

 

[metalmacguyver]

I always stay with traffic and never be first in line.

that is the best way to do it with minimal risk of getting a ticket.


that and CRUISE CONTROL!!! for when there is no other traffic.