Are radar detectors worth it?

[zimu]

it really depends on location.

my radar detector sucks a$$ in california, even though it should technically be able to intercept radar and laser.

however in nevada it was freakin' amazing, i saw 3 people getting pulled over, all of whom were at one point going slower than me!!

 

[DewDood]

What I find ironic about these is that the same company makes both the radar detectors and the radar guns. :disgust:

 

[stev0]

V1 > all

i've owned many, and the one that i've found to be the best is the valentine, if your going to get one, might as well spring and get your moneys worth. since i've gotten it (2+ yrs ago) i haven't received a single ticket. not only the quality but the fact that valentine will replace or upgrade your unit if new technology comes out makes it an even greater deal.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: Ynog
Curious on anyones experiences with detectors and laser?

My Bel 985 picks up Laser and too this point I always had enough time to slow down.


Sysadmin

 

[LuNoTiCK]

Originally posted by: Sysadmin

Originally posted by: Ynog
Curious on anyones experiences with detectors and laser?

My Bel 985 picks up Laser and too this point I always had enough time to slow down.


Sysadmin

From what I heard the only way to be safe against laser would be to get a shifter.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: LuNoTiCK

Originally posted by: Sysadmin

Originally posted by: Ynog
Curious on anyones experiences with detectors and laser?

My Bel 985 picks up Laser and too this point I always had enough time to slow down.


Sysadmin

From what I heard the only way to be safe against laser would be to get a shifter.

Hmm Maybe I am lucky I guess. Maybe I should order some of the laser jamming license plates


Sysadmin

 

[The Stigenator]

Originally posted by: minendo
I'm using a cheap Cobra and it has saved my ass on several occasions.

same here

 

[ucdnam]

get that radar detector if you're getting a good price. You're ok long as you get one of the top end models: escort 8500, valentine 1, or bel 98x 990 series (forgot exactly where they are now with their numbering). Depending on where you live, you can turn off X and/or K bands, since those are antiquated and not in use in some cities. I live in California and the only band that matters is the Ka. Laser I've seen go off once, and that was in a fastfood drive-thru The Xs and Ks are the supermarket sliding doors, the sensors on the freeway that count how many cars go by, and the pathetic signs that tell you how fast you're going, like you're going to slow down.

Anyway, I've always driven fast, say 90-100 on the freeways, and never gotten a ticket. At those speeds though, you have to know that you cannot break in time if you see a cop around a corner, so just slow down to 80ish around corners and freeway onramps. At 80-85, you can tap your break or let off the gas and be down to 70-75 before the cop sees you and they won't pull you over at those speeds, unless he saw you weaving in and out of traffic.

The one speeding ticket I received was in a speed trap. I saw 2 cars pulled over ahead of me and was going 55 in a 45 when I was pulled over. That is one good thing the radar detector is good for, telling you when there's a speed trap. Because of all the activity, your radar goes crazy from 1 mile away!

 

[Maximus96]

around here the cost of buying a radar detector is justified by a single speeding ticket and all the fees that tags along such as traffic school and or insurance hikes. also, you have the right to know when you are being monitored. all this past week, i see the same cop car on the same spot at the side of the freeway after dark, with all his lights off. i wouldn't have known hes theres if my bel 980 wasn't going off crazy with the Ka band.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: ucdnam
Depending on where you live, you can turn off X and/or K bands, since those are antiquated and not in use in some cities. I live in California and the only band that matters is the Ka. Laser I've seen go off once, and that was in a fastfood drive-thru

are you in davis? i remember my laser goes off at the wendy's drive-thru...

 

[ucdnam]

Oh man, I am a UCD graduate, but I work for UCD, so I drive around and through Davis a lot! The police in Davis only use Ka and they have superduper power or something, because you can pick it up from way away. My passengers are always impressed by the radar detector in Davis and you know Davis police, they will bust you for a couple of miles over the posted speed limit.

Oh yea, my laser was a Wendy's in Woodland. It surprised me too, because I'd never heard laser before. Hell, I get surprised when my dectector tells me that there's construction ahead!

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: minendo
My main reason for picking it up was because I constantly travelled through Ohio. The troopers on Route 80 will hand out tickets for doing 4 over. It was a hassle I wanted to avoid. Plus I refuse to do ~65mph on the interstate and have truckers on my ass the whole ride.

You're kidding, right?

I'm in Ohio, and I drive across the state all the time (literally "across"). I set the cruise control at 74 mph on the interstates and run about 60 on the two-lanes. I have never gotten so much as a second look from a patrol officer and I've passed plenty of them.

ZV

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: minendo
My main reason for picking it up was because I constantly travelled through Ohio. The troopers on Route 80 will hand out tickets for doing 4 over. It was a hassle I wanted to avoid. Plus I refuse to do ~65mph on the interstate and have truckers on my ass the whole ride.

You're kidding, right?

I'm in Ohio, and I drive across the state all the time (literally "across"). I set the cruise control at 74 mph on the interstates and run about 60 on the two-lanes. I have never gotten so much as a second look from a patrol officer and I've passed plenty of them.

ZV

Definitely not kidding. The cops are out there all the time patrolling route 80. My grandfather got a ticket for doing ~72mph and I have seen many others pulled over for doing no more than 8-10mph over the 65mph limit.

 

[ucdnam]

It depends on the cop, which is why people dislike police officers that enforce traffic laws. It's arbitrary who they pull over. You have ZV who does 14 over and does not get a "second look" and you have minendo who has seen people pulled over for a lot less.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: minendo
Definitely not kidding. The cops are out there all the time patrolling route 80. My grandfather got a ticket for doing ~72mph and I have seen many others pulled over for doing no more than 8-10mph over the 65mph limit.

Huh. I've never had a problem and I tend to move fairly quickly.

Definitely important to watch the semis on the freeways though. If they start slowing down you know there's a cop ahead.

ZV

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: ucdnam
It depends on the cop, which is why people dislike police officers that enforce traffic laws. It's arbitrary who they pull over. You have ZV who does 14 over and does not get a "second look" and you have minendo who has seen people pulled over for a lot less.

74 on the freeway is 9 over, not 14 over. Ohio interstate speed limit it 65 mph.

There's also some "game theory" going on as well. I always stay in the centre or far right lane unless I'm passing and I use my signal for every lane change even if I think there's no-one around but me and the car I'm overtaking, also I never pass o the right. All of these decrease the liklihood of a patrol officer targeting your car. It's actually pretty rare for even a speed trap (except in rural areas) to involve the officers targeting every single vehicle, usually they wait for one of the vehicles to catch their attention.

ZV

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: minendo
Definitely not kidding. The cops are out there all the time patrolling route 80. My grandfather got a ticket for doing ~72mph and I have seen many others pulled over for doing no more than 8-10mph over the 65mph limit.

Huh. I've never had a problem and I tend to move fairly quickly.

Definitely important to watch the semis on the freeways though. If they start slowing down you know there's a cop ahead.

ZV

I actually installed a CB since I frequently travel and that has helped out a bunch.

"Bear rolling at mile marker 147."

 

[thomsbrain]

there's been a couple times i wished i had one but didn't get pulled over anyway. i think the station wagon looks pretty innocent.

1. cresting a hill on an interstate, at ~95 in a 70 at night. highway patrol in the center divider pointed right at me, not too far away. nailed the brakes but i was sure he got me. i drove by and he didn't pull out. phew!

2. last in a speed line, 85 in a 65 at night. i see some headlights coming up from far away REALLY fast, and get the hell over into the slow lane but don't slow down until i see they are crown vic headlights. by that point he was pretty close, i'm sure he could have nailed me. but he just blasted right by me. he must have been doing 95. he didn't pull anyone in the line over at all, he just passed them all and eventually pulled over a Sentra with expired tags. beginning of the month. phew!

3. nailed for sure, 40 in a 25 (not a residental or school zone, the limit was ridiculous). cop pulled out and started to follow, i made a turn and got the heck out of there. by the time he knew i was running, i was gone. phew!

i didn't get any tickets but a detector would have saved me a lot of worry. but $400 for a V1 hurts just thinking about it.

 

[FoBoT]

no
drive slower

the highway ain't a nascar track

 

[ucdnam]

Hey thomsbrain, I've sped many a times on the freeway at night at 90-95 and see headlights coming, and then letting that car pass, only to see that it's a cop car. My assumption is that you weren't swerving, were paying attention, and weren't a hazard to anyone else on the road.

 

[acemcmac]

I'm only worried about 2 specific police threats. A specific rural, local force (6 units?) and the Avondale, PA State troopers... considering doing a Mitnik and doing a survey of their radar bands and shopping for a detector from there... any thoughts?

 

[Compton]

Hell yeah radar detectors are worth it. Mine has saved me at least 7 tickets over the past 6 years. I don't use it anymore tho, its gotten unreliable.

As far as laser goes, I hope you have very good brakes and you get very lucky too.

 

[GeekDrew]

ZV and minendo... I know you guys live on opposite sides of Ohio... where are the routes you follow located at?

I live on Columbus, OH... drove to Nashville, TN last summer. The entire trip was extremely quick... besides being a relatively short run, I was also able to drive rather quickly (just keeping up with traffic). On my way back, I crossed the border from KY to OH, so I instinctively slowed down. Good thing, too. I was probably going maybe 5 miles above the limit after slowing down. A car behind me follow suit. A few miles later, a cop targeted me (I thought), but the car behind me was the one that wound up being pulled over.

The cops around here are extremely annoying. I travel a 15 mile stretch of the interstate on the southeast side of columbus very frequently, and the cops always seem to be in the same spot at the same time. I thus automatically adjust my speed accordingly. But when I'm in territory I don't drive daily, or in a city zone, or county highway, then I normally go the speed limit +/- 5 MPH (and I've had several close calls even with that).

I'm planning on getting a new car in the near future... want to outfit it with a radar detector and laser detector/shifter when I get it. I don't plan on driving excessively fast, but it would be nice to have. More precisely, the cops in a nearby town I have to drive through very often will pull people over for going 2 mph over the limit. I'd rather have the detector to warn me to check my speed. The speed limit in that town is 25 MPH EVERYWHERE. Even on 2 lane county highways that have absolutely no reason to have a speed limit other than 55.

I've heard from many people that an Escort Passport 8500 is just as good as a Valentine One, if not better. If I get that, I also want to get an Escort Laser Shifter ZR3. All of this will be extraordinarily expensive, but for as much as I seem to be on the road, I don't think I'll mind the price. I wouldn't mind the price of speeding tickets, I would mind the points. I've only had 1 ticket, 2 years ago. But I don't really want any more tickets. I'm more worried about the insurance rate increases and other negative consequences of points added to the driver's record.

 

[OS]

I have a cheap whistler that I bought onsale for like $25. Now, all conventional wisdom says there is only garbage at this price point, but it has been really useful. I have about a 1/4-1/2 mile detection range on Ka band, the only band that matters in CA.

I'll also say another thing about having a radar detector. It has made me lose all respect for traffic cops. Once, I was pacing a CHP car and for the 2-3 miles I was following him, my radar detector was going nuts. This guy was shameless hosing down the entire freeway with his radar gun looking for someone to tag.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: acemcmac
I'm only worried about 2 specific police threats. A specific rural, local force (6 units?) and the Avondale, PA State troopers... considering doing a Mitnik and doing a survey of their radar bands and shopping for a detector from there... any thoughts?

Only the state troopers in PA use radar, all others have to either pace or time you.

I have a low-end Whistler and I THINK it's saved me from at least 5 tickets. Since I usually keep my speed under 10 over and slow down for overpasses, hills, and curves I may or may not have gotten a ticket but since the detector went off I was extra cautious.