Radar Detectors

[unclogum bill]

About 6 or seven years ago I took the plunge and spent 300.00 bucks on an Escort Passport radar detector. It has saved me many times over, money well spent. Looks like today you can buy detectors from 60 bucks to well over 1,000.00 with a comparable "Passport" going about 400.00 dollars. Daughter is looking to get one for her husband for Christmas. Anyone know if cheap ones are any good?.

[montana_charlie]

Many years ago I learned to drive within the speed limits. I have never owned a radar detector, or a GPS navigation device, or a cell phone.
Sigh! ... I never have any fun.

CM

[HATCH]

radar detectors just tell you when to pull over.. .LOL

[starmac]

I have not paid any attention to them since they were outlawed for trucks.
Since the coming of the cdl and the 2 tickets your out deal I try to pretty much run the speed limit. The price of fuel actually put me under the speed limits in many states.

[Bullshop Junior]

I had one in my 2000 Honda Civid Ricer with turnos and and all that good stuff. Had it hooked up so it made the check engine light come so the cops didn't notice it. It saved me a few times when i was going well over the speedlimit racing. But then again, i still had to out run the cops a few times too.

In my truck, i did a lot of work on the engine so it likes to cruise at about 70. If i hold 70, and dont go act like a racecar drivee, i can get 26mpg, and im pulling a little over 400 HP so no issues pulling heavy loads.

I dont have a radar detector in my truck. I try hard to go thr speed limit, and have never had a ticket but thats probably just luck.

[merlin101]

What are you going to do when your hit with a laser instead of radar? Laser is instent on, no warning at all.

[unclogum bill]

Many years ago I learned to drive within the speed limits. I have never owned a radar detector, or a GPS navigation device, or a cell phone.
Sigh! ... I never have any fun.

CM

You begin to remind me of a guy living on Butte Ave, Helena Montana. Going into his house was like going back in time. Rotary phone, Never had hot water ever (Bachelor for sure). Lights hanging from cords out the ceiling, Icebox was one with the round compressor on top. Stove was a light with match that had no safety. He about died when I tried to charge him 55 bucks for a service call. Since he was in his 80 ty's I told him to pay me what he thought I was worth. Gave me 5 bucks, Worth it just for the time spent talking with him.

[cbrick]

Hand held radar is also instant on. If the police cruiser has a built in unit that's usually always on but normally all it tells you is that they are in the area so cool it. The hand held units used by motors cops and some police dept. however are only on when they are pointed at you & the trigger is squeezed, too late for your radar detector to help, just pull over.

I have one but haven't used it since I retired, I ain't been in any hurry to get anywhere fast. Mine may have saved me a time or two but after using it for a few years I would say they aren't really worth the money.

Rick

[Crash_Corrigan]

A long time ago in a land far away I was courting a Lady in Vermont. Alas that was 350 miles from where I was in New Jersey. Driving my '83 Nissan King Cab PU truck I could make the trip in about 5 and a half hours. Most of those miles were on the NY State Thruway from Suffern NY to Plattsburgh NY. As an active member of the NYCPD I got to meet quite a few NY State Troopers along the way.

In order to prevent any future wastage of time and trouble on the part of the Troopers I bought a radar detector. However I quickly learned that they had their drawbacks. That instant on radar did not give me enough time to slam on the brakes and get legal.l

I learned how to cultivate a bird dog or two. I would drag along at 60 mph for a time until a faster vehicle blasted by me. I would give this driver a couple of hundred yards of lead and then I would accelerate up to his speed. If the road conditions were ok and his speed reasonable (70-80 MPH) I would fall in behind and with my radar detector I would pay attention to his brake lights and my RD.

If his brake lights suddenly came on I also would throw out the anchor. In most cases it would be a false alarm. In some cases however a Trooper would suddenly materialize from almost anywhere and pull him over. The distance between us prevented the Trooper also flagging me for the infraction and the bird dog would have sniffed out the Smokey and I could drive by and wave thanks to him as he greeted the officer.

The secret I learned was to maintain enough distance between us and to always drive in the right lane if possible to avoid being singled out. Many times the RD would light up and I would drop my speed to match the limit and the bird dog would be trapped and I went merrily on my way.

I eventually married the gal and moved to Vermont.

[grumman581]

If you insist on being out in front of everyone else, a radar detector might not help you from the instant on type of units.

I've found that the main things that radar detectors is good for is to give you a good indication that he person trying to pull you over is probably a cop and not a potential criminal cop-poser.

They are also pretty good for finding the automatic door openers at grocery stores.

If you insist on being ahead of everyone else on the road, you're going to be the car that gets the ticket. It's better to hang back and let someone else volunteer to get the ticket. I've had my share of tickets over the years and have decided that the best course of action is to just not be noticed since once the cop stops you, he can start looking for other things for which to give you even more tickets. It's all about the money, safety has nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Not all cops are AHs though. I was stopped by a cop a few years ago even though I wasn't speeding, but he just informed me that the lights on my license plate were out. He said that they were required to make a certain number of "contacts" per shift but they didn't have to result in tickets. The funny thing about this was that I was coming back from a location up in Central Texas where I had just purchased a Springfield M1A from someone. It was just sitting across the rear seat of my truck, so when I pulled over, I turned the cabin lights on and when he walked up, I told him that I had a firearm in the back seat and around 400 rounds of ammo -- perfectly legal here in Texas, but surprised cops are not necessarily conducive to your long life, so I volunteered the information. Not sure how BOTH of my license plate lights had gone out at the same time, but I replaced them the next day after verifying that it was not a fuse that had blown (and subsequently a wiring problem). Unlike a lot of cops I have met, this one was not on a power trip.

[Hawkeye45]

With all the collision avoidance products on new cars that are radar controlled, the number of annoyance alerts drove me nuts. I turned it off.

Mr. Ed

[grumman581]

With all the collision avoidance products on new cars that are radar controlled, the number of annoyance alerts drove me nuts. I turned it off.

Plus certain radio / cell transmission towers, microwave relays, power lines, grocery store door openers, etc...

Plus, it doesn't matter if you are going the speed limit or not, if the cop wants your money, he will give you a ticket. I had that happen first hand going through a small town south of Dallas on I-45 back around 1995. The cop had the always on X-band radar unit and my radar detector was blaring for MILES, so I slowed down to the speed limit. FINALLY, I come over a hill and there he is. I figure no problem since I've detected him for miles away and I've been going EXACTLY the speed limit for the last few minutes. He turns his lights on and pulls me over. He claimed I was driving 70 in a 55. Of course, he would not show me the radar speed indicator (not that it would have mattered since it could still be showing the speed of someone from earlier in the evening). The small town cops prey upon out-of-towners since they know that you will pay the ticket and not spend the money to drive back there (multiple times) to fight it. It's literally highway robbery. The town was Ennis, TX. It wouldn't do any good to try to fight a ticket in this sort of town anyway -- the judge is probably a relative anyway.

[starmac]

In a case like that, I have been known to drive back to Texas from out of state and make them feed me. lol I have paid lots of speeding tickets, but only the ones I was guilty of.

[jcwit]

I find it easier to just obey the rules & laws of the road.

[762 shooter]

Two periods in my life I almost lost my license due to speeding. Both times I was relying on Radar Detectors. Drive the speed limit. Cast boolits if you want to live on the edge.

762

[blackthorn]

Quote---"What are you going to do when your hit with a laser instead of radar? "

Pay the fine! Having said that, I quit using my detector several years ago. That don't mean I don't speed but I do TRY to stay reasonably close to the limit and I do drive to the conditions of the road, i.e. weather, lighting etc. I also will happily let some other lead foot take the lead and just keep him/her in sight ahead of me. I have picked up a few tickets over the years, most came from cops that were driving toward me rather than those hiding behind bushes, roar signs et-al.

[cheese1566]

Hand held radar is also instant on. If the police cruiser has a built in unit that's usually always on but normally all it tells you is that they are in the area so cool it. The hand held units used by motors cops and some police dept. however are only on when they are pointed at you & the trigger is squeezed, too late for your radar detector to help, just pull over.

Yep!!
Most of the units now in patrol cars are "on" all the time, but the officer activates the unit when he/she wants to check speed (activating the RADAR beam). Radar detectors wont do much good if the officer doesn't use it much in an area, but kicks it's on when he see's a car speeding. If your lucky, you may get a signal from ahead while he momentarily activates the units at cars ahead.
Now some areas do activate the unit at all times so those with detectors slow down.
Remember, modern radr units can detect speeds while the officer is stationery, moving at you, moving away from you, and while moving in the same direction as you.

[Dale in Louisiana]

I run up and down US 165 in Louisiana. I might push +5 on the open road, but there are small towns like Fenton, Kinder, Oakdale, Pollock, Georgetown and several others whose revenues are considerably augmented by a 45 MPH speed limit on a five-lane road. I do -1 through those.

And if you're on I-10, Vinton, Louisiana gets >40% of its revenues from the one mile of I-10 that's inside the city limits. They have a website so you can log in with a credit card and pay your fines. You can by a grocery bag full of meth in town, but Texans can't speed on the interstate.

Same thing goes for I-10 at Jennings and the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff's Department.

Don't give those cowboys an excuse.

dale in Louisiana

[Down South]

Many years ago I learned to drive within the speed limits. I have never owned a radar detector, or a GPS navigation device, or a cell phone.
Sigh! ... I never have any fun.

CM

I drive with all of them armed, radar detector /gps/ and cell phone. I have to in the inviroment I have to drive in. Im on the road a lot. GPS is handy as socks on a rooster. Radar detector helps me stay out of trouble in our many speed trap towns I travel through. The cell phone is hands free but if it gets too technical, I pull over.

To answer the question, Valentine One Radar Detector is best in my book. I've been using one for years and I still like it. There is a learning curb to it but not bad.

http://www.valentine1.com/

I believe Vallentine built the Excort before he started his own business.

[Full Mold Jack]

Check out radardetectorforum.org they know their stuff and are a nice helpful bunch, a very large majority are pro gun guys too.