Radar Detectors - do they work?

[Jester]

So, my job has me on the road a good bit now (back roads, state highways, etc).

I have no desire to drive 100 mph in a 40, but these speed traps i run into are a p.i.t.a.

any suggestions on radar/laser detectors that work?
or are the all just expensive POS?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[MOTOR51]

It only works on lazy police officers that just leave the radar on continuously. If done correctly a radar detector will just warn you that you are about to get a ticket. You will probably get a lot of responses telling you how great they are etc but I have written tons of tickets to people while their radar detector is chirping on their dash.


MOTOR51

 

[Ritten]

Two words............."Valentine One". Get it and never look back.

 

[edman87k5]

The more you pay the better it is. See valentine one and passport.
However, they are useless against lidar which is more and more common. Also, if you are hit directly, its too late. The only way they work is if you catch some scatter from another car in front of you and slow down.
The one thing they are guaranteed to do is get you a ticket instead of a warning if you are stopped. I have gotten tickets, but the detectors have saved me enough times to pay for them selves many times over. I have them in 4 vehicles, all of them are old and dated now. I dont drive like I used to when I was young.
First ticket I ever got was the day my dad gave me a new fancy one, got hit in a speedtrap town in north la that night.
They have many times given me the chance to jump back in the line and let the other guy catch the ticket though.

 

[JR1572]

They don't work.

JR1572


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[Vsotok10]

Spend the money on a top-end detector such as the Escort or Valentine1, the cost of 1 ticket equals close to or more than the purchase price of either of these units. I have used the same Escort 8500 for the past 6 years and it has always been reliable. Remember, the detector is only a tool to help you drive smarter. With enough time you can infer where the radar signal is coming from and whether the officer is just driving towards you with the radar left on or if he is turning the radar on and off in an attempt to ambush drivers. The top-end units will do a fair job of detecting laser guns when they are pointed at your car and will occasionally pickup scatter from a vehicle in front of you being targeted. It may be to late to slow down when your detector alerts from laser but you now know where a laser speed trap is set and should slow down when passing through the area next time.

Whether your trying to set land speed records or just trying to avoid lame speed traps in sh!t hole towns you just can't afford to not have one to help you drive smarter.

 

[kajuntriton]

Two words............."Valentine One". Get it and never look back.

^^^^^THIS X1000^^^^^

Pricy but WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!

Mine is only 13 years old and has NEVER FAILED ME!

I have had it updated once in 2005 and haven't since but haven't really felt it needed it....
If I am not mistaken they charge about ~$300 for an update which also includes a 1 year warranty......never needed the warranty either!!!

KT

 

[tallwalker]

Never used one in a car. I do have one on my sailboat though. I set it up at night in case a tug with a string of barges tries to sneak into my dreams. Been lit up a few times before I could see where it was coming from.


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[03protege]

Valentine use to have a policy where they would reimburse you for the ticket, I don't know if they still do that or not.

 

[DevinLSU]

Two words............."Valentine One". Get it and never look back.

Agreed. I have had a Valentine 1 for 8 years and have traveled many "ticketless" miles with it.

 

[MOTOR51]

See, just like I said. I'm only a RADAR/LIDAR instructor so what would I know.


MOTOR51

 

[Ritten]

^^^^^THIS X1000^^^^^

Pricy but WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!

Mine is only 13 years old and has NEVER FAILED ME!

I have had it updated once in 2005 and haven't since but haven't really felt it needed it....
If I am not mistaken they charge about ~$300 for an update which also includes a 1 year warranty......never needed the warranty either!!!

KT

I've had mine since 2006 and have stopped counting the DOZENS of tickets that it's saved me. I did have to send it in once when it stopped detecting k band, but V1 returned my check with the repaired unit within a week. I drive 50,000+ miles a year and can say that little unit (next to lasik surgery) is some of the best money I've ever spent. MOTOR51 is correct in that a cop who knows what he's doing can get the surprise on a day dreaming driver who has the average detector, but in all my miles I find that most of the cops out there are the lazy ones he's talking about. They can get their revenue just as easily leaving their radar on with traffic passing by all while surfing BS.

 

[AustinBR]

I have an Escort Passport and it works quite well. Mine has a GPS feature in it so it remembers where error signals are. I did turn off the X-Band on mine as I don't know of any police agencies that use that around here and it is a very common band on automatic door openers. The radar detector is great, as said above, for lazy cops. Also, if a cop is being "smart" and turning his radar on and off you will generally catch it in advance on nice straight roads. Lasers are a little trickier, but if you drive SMART and SAFE, you should be fine. I generally drive a decent bit over the speed limit where it is safe, and I have not gotten any tickets. I would equate it more so to driving smartly than to the radar, but it has helped in a few instances by letting me know that a cop is sitting around a bend with his radar just left on. I really think some cops just leave theirs on all the time to screw with those of us who have detectors :P

Do they work? Yes. Is it a ticket shield? Absolutely not. I know cops that use them in their personal cars if they tells you anything to their effectiveness.

 

[JR1572]

See, just like I said. I'm only a RADAR/LIDAR instructor so what would I know.


MOTOR51

Yep, the nature of the derp.

JR1572


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[AustinBR]

It only works on lazy police officers that just leave the radar on continuously. If done correctly a radar detector will just warn you that you are about to get a ticket. You will probably get a lot of responses telling you how great they are etc but I have written tons of tickets to people while their radar detector is chirping on their dash.


MOTOR51

See, just like I said. I'm only a RADAR/LIDAR instructor so what would I know.


MOTOR51

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you. I was speeding once and saw the cop a good half mile ahead of me. I had a good five second window to slow down before he brought the laser up and before my detector went off. I agree with you completely that they will work against a lazy cop. Driving safely and intelligently will work a lot better than a detector, but they do help in some instances. Mine will alert me if I am coming up on a known speed camera, such as the kinds in Florida. That is a great benefit if you are traveling and there are camera that ticket you for going 5 over.

Being an instructor, I do have a serious question for you, and I mean this in a completely non-sarcastic way. Do y'all teach cops to walk into the middle of the "fast" lane on the interstate to wave someone down or is that just them doing something wrong? I got pulled over once and the guy would have gotten run over had I not moved in the other lane to go around him and then to pull over in front of him. I also saw this happen a few months back when my buddy got pulled over (state police this time) going towards Mississippi. What is the proper technique that is actually taught?

 

[03protege]

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you. I was speeding once and saw the cop a good half mile ahead of me. I had a good five second window to slow down before he brought the laser up and before my detector went off. I agree with you completely that they will work against a lazy cop. Driving safely and intelligently will work a lot better than a detector, but they do help in some instances. Mine will alert me if I am coming up on a known speed camera, such as the kinds in Florida. That is a great benefit if you are traveling and there are camera that ticket you for going 5 over.

Being an instructor, I do have a serious question for you, and I mean this in a completely non-sarcastic way. Do y'all teach cops to walk into the middle of the "fast" lane on the interstate to wave someone down or is that just them doing something wrong? I got pulled over once and the guy would have gotten run over had I not moved in the other lane to go around him and then to pull over in front of him. I also saw this happen a few months back when my buddy got pulled over (state police this time) going towards Mississippi. What is the proper technique that is actually taught?

Why you gotta be such a cop hater?

 

[AustinBR]

Why you gotta be such a cop hater?

Lol. It was a serious question. I am not even close to being a cop hater though :P I have plenty of friends who are cops. Maybe if I got unjustly stopped all the time and had a youtube channel full of watchers I would subscribe to the idea. I don't get the whole cop hater mentality. I want them on my side when I need them, haha!

 

[MOTOR51]

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you. I was speeding once and saw the cop a good half mile ahead of me. I had a good five second window to slow down before he brought the laser up and before my detector went off. I agree with you completely that they will work against a lazy cop. Driving safely and intelligently will work a lot better than a detector, but they do help in some instances. Mine will alert me if I am coming up on a known speed camera, such as the kinds in Florida. That is a great benefit if you are traveling and there are camera that ticket you for going 5 over.

Being an instructor, I do have a serious question for you, and I mean this in a completely non-sarcastic way. Do y'all teach cops to walk into the middle of the "fast" lane on the interstate to wave someone down or is that just them doing something wrong? I got pulled over once and the guy would have gotten run over had I not moved in the other lane to go around him and then to pull over in front of him. I also saw this happen a few months back when my buddy got pulled over (state police this time) going towards Mississippi. What is the proper technique that is actually taught?

Ill only answer one cop hater question in a day, this is it . It is not advised to step into traffic and flag cars for safety. There is no written rule against it though. Have I done it? Yes. It's the quickest way to write tickets and saves wear and tear on the police cars your taxes pay for.


MOTOR51

 

[jgreg]

My wife got pulled over while policeman was in middle/standing in the interstate It frightened her so bad she almost ran over him. I would like to pass the answer to the question above to my wife.
Thanks regardless I am referring to austinbr's question

 

[MOTOR51]

And always remember police don't jump in front and flag over people who are NOT speeding. Don't speed and you have no worries.


MOTOR51