Do radar detectors work? I've been told that they're almost useless now that the cops have a "trigger" style gun, vs. The old kind that was a constant beam. Anyone have any opinions or advise? Not sure if I want to get one, just curious about them.

Blake

Way back in the lates 80's I did

I found my Eyeballs were much more accurate

I just don't speed no mo.

I stay within 10 mph of the speed limit and have never had to worry about speeding tickets.

I used to have a radar detector 15 years ago. It got stolen. Ever since then I have not gotten a single ticket.

Nope, can't be bothered.

I avoid driving like a black sheep in areas where I expect enforcement (urban, major slabs, etc.), and select my play areas carefully. Behaving this way has earned me a whole 4 performance certificates in 23 years of driving, two of which were caused by brain-dead moments while delivering pizza in my teens.

I have one. I don't know why but I do. I have not had a invitation to the policeman's Ball in 10 years. However I have a Passport 9500XI. Really Cool features.

Haven't used one in over 20 years. Back then they gave false alarms all of the time (driving past stores with alarms, etc.) and didn't seem to really give you ample warning before the cop was within visual range. Plus I have gotten a ticket and my radar dectector was USELESS because I was clocked visually from an airplane (timed between marks on the highway). They had about 5 police cars lined up on the highway entrance ramps and an airplane circling overhead "timing" cars. They would just radio down to the next cop car in line and tell them who to stop. Bastards! And I have also had one stolen out of my car too.

So in the over 20 years since not using a radar detector I have only received 2 tickets. And I can't say for sure that a detector would have even prevented any of those. In my opinion they are simply a huge money grap on peoples paranoia towards police and don't really protect you as much as you would like to think. Just drive appropriately and you won't have to worry..........generally. Unless your running the Cannonball or doing stupid insane crap, then a radar dectector is nothing more then a security blanket to make you feel better.

Radar detectors! How quaint....

I figure that if I'm the one that gets singled out and gets a ticket, I probably deserve it.

quote Originally posted by FieroRumor: I just don't speed no mo.

Same here.

It's suprising how many cops are out there with radar guns---making money for their masters, no doubt. You don't know this until you buy a detector and experience all the warning alarms the unit gives you.
These days, it doesn't matter how law abiding you are, you will eventually make a driving mistake, and the cops will take advantage of that and get you.
I don't generally speed, so when I get a warning, I don't even bother slowing down.
Just have the units in case I screw up, so I have my butt covered. Or when I'm blitzing the back roads, or in unfamiliar territory.
I have a Escort 9500 IX (GPS) portable, with laser detection, and a speedcam and stoplight cam updatable database.
On my newer Lotus, I hard installed an Escort 9500 CI (GPS), with the above features, but a remote type unit, with larger radar and laser antennas and the capability to jam the laser guns.
All legal in Washington, of course.
They seem to work very well, so far.
The police's new toys are the laser guns, and it's amusing because they take special interest in the Lotus.
They get behind me and turn the gun on--and get jammed. They try again-- and get jammed.......And on and on. They haven't figured out I have a jammer mounted in the rear as well, I guess.
The pic below is about all you see of the warning unit on the 9500 CI. It's the little blue lit box.
2nd pic is the rear antenna/jammer.

Black Lotus, very nice!

I am in WA too, I thought that they were not legal to use here, propaganda!

I run a radar detector and the times I was paying attention to it it saved my arse. Cop sitting on a side street way off the highway trick shootin at cars that went by and I caught some of the scatter and was able to slow down in time. Mine also has the emergency band detection for emergency vehicles, and that's came in handy a few times as well, when an ambulance is out of visual range and the red "S" comes on and the thing on my dash makes this god awful screech. That'll definitely cause you to pay attention.

I use a passport and YES, they work well. Police tend to set-up traps on the back side of rises in the roadway or under overpasses. Trigger or no trigger, if they activate the thing it will sound off a signal for miles. So if they are triggering on cars ahead of you, you will know he is there before you get to the trap. I've dodged plenty of bullets over the years. Well worth the $230

quote Originally posted by Black Lotus: They get behind me and turn the gun on--and get jammed. They try again-- and get jammed.......And on and on. They haven't figured out I have a jammer mounted in the rear as well, I guess.

They dont run laser from a moving car, that would be incredibly dangerous and pretty obvious if they were hanging thier head out the window on the highway trying to sight in the gun. Also radar does not work when the patrol car is moving the same direction as the targent vehicle. Only when stationary and coming from an opposing direction. That has to do with how the gun uses reflections from stationary objects to determine its own speed vs the targent object.

quote Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: They dont run laser from a moving car, that would be incredibly dangerous and pretty obvious if they were hanging thier head out the window on the highway trying to sight in the gun. Also radar does not work when the patrol car is moving the same direction as the targent vehicle. Only when stationary and coming from an opposing direction. That has to do with how the gun uses reflections from stationary objects to determine its own speed vs the targent object.

I believe I should have written it--" I passed a lidar station and they beamed me" or some such.
Nevertheless, their favorite tactic around here is to hit you from the rear with laser. Maybe because my Lotus doesn't have the mandatory reflective front license plate installed? The fact that they are doing it, maybe, 3 to 5 times in quick succesion, indicates to me they are not getting a valid reflection because of jamming. Maybe that's a good assumption, maybe not, but I haven't got a ticket.
Then again, maybe I was just being "harrassed" by a cop car/truck mounted lidar unit while on the roll---all in good fun then, eh?
Never said I was being "attacked" by radar from a moving vehicle.
The main thrust of my post is that in many areas the police are being used as lackeys to generate revenue from otherwise law abiding citizens, whos only crime is a momentary lack of judgement or attention. A good radar detector will give you some peace of mind, because you generally get an alert, well ahead of time, that radar is being used in the area. You don't get that timely warning with laser/lidar.

There completley useless in my state. PA's rule right now is that it cannot use radar to make money, with the exception of state troopers. so basicley unless your on the turnpike or in statie patroled area you basicley threw away $100. Now this is going to be getting changed in my state soon. it might be for the best because cops around my way are lazy and will sit in there cars all day pointing a radar gun so the detector will pick this up before they get you.

Mercedes offers a built in detector in some of there cars. i was driving an SL550 one day and next thing you know the car starts beeping at me. i go back to the dealership to find that it has a built in radar detector.

I wana see about getting one of thoes jammers... it woukld save me a bunch in tickets even though cops in PA are allowed to determin your speed a number of diffrent ways ROBIC ENRADD VASCAR Pacing clocking and soon to be radar.

[This message has been edited by pontiackid86 (edited 11-24-2010).]

They use instant on LASER here. I don't worry about it, as I set my cruise control to the speed limit. Here the limits are high enough (65 & 70 MPH) that there really is no need to speed.

Ive got 3 radar detectors in a drawer I havent used in 15 years. The ONLY speeding tickets Ive gotten in 30 years were when I had one. I just use common sense and my eyes. From my experience therefore, there totally useless and just give you a false sense of security. I dont think I could even give away the ones I have. No ones even picked one up at swap meets.

I'll be the odd-ball and say I don't leave home without it. I travel 5 states on the job and every one has their own techniques.

Upon starting the engine it will announce " Welcome, Please buckle your seatbelt".
Upon approaching certain road construction areas it will announce "Caution ahead, slow down".
Some of the hiway electronic signs have a built in radar "silent recording" and I will get an appropiate beeping.
In Montgomery county PA. It announced "Train approaching". I think it was Amtraks train.
Some State patrol cars have a homing beacon so an officer can tell if another patrol car is within xx distance. My detector picks that up as well.
Then of course the generic beeps for laser, radar, point & shoot, door openers at Walmart, etc...............

I'm not a speeder but this device keeps me in check in the areas I travel daily.
Best traveling tool I ever invested in except for the GPS thingy.

Spoon

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Two yeast spent their entire life "about 2 days" discussing what the purpose of life could be and not once did they even come close to the fact that they were making champagne. Quoted by: Unknown

quote Originally posted by FieroRumor: I just don't speed no mo.

X3

I used to have one back in the early 90's but now /shrug I don't bother with one. Don't speed and you won't have a problem.

I have an Escort that I love, and am using Kris's Cobra right now.

I use them daily, and at least once every two weeks they seem to save my butt, typically by going off for an officer that is running radar over the next hill.

This morning I was on my way to work at 4am, usually I don't see a car, and drive accordingly. I drive faster than I should, but this morning was 80-85 in a 70. I was tooling along, not a car in sight, and the radar detector makes that "HIT THE BRAKES" sound, I slow it down to 75, and sure enough a Highway Patrol was sitting around the curve on the on ramp. I'm sure he was bored enough to pop me for 10-15 over if I had been doing that when passing him.

The Cobra is supposed to have the emergency stuff, and all the bells and whistles, but I honestly have no idea how to work all of it, I have managed to figure out the smart mute.

Brad

I use tos wear by them and always kept one in the car. In the mid - late 80s I had a remote Escort detector that had the antenna mounted behind the grill of the car and a very small control panel inside the car. I loved that thing. I sold the car with the detector in it. After that I just did not want to spend the hundreds of dollars to buy a high end detector so I bought several low cost units that always gave more false warnings than they were worth.

I have not had one in over ten years. I just keep my head on a swivel and I always try to go slightly slower than the fastest car near me on the freeway. I typically get away with driving about ten miles over the limit without a problem. And I've only had two speeding tickets in my entire driving history - more than 30 years.

I have never owned one. In some states they are illegal to have, But I try to watch my speed, Now that helps me alot.

quote Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: They dont run laser from a moving car, that would be incredibly dangerous and pretty obvious if they were hanging thier head out the window on the highway trying to sight in the gun. Also radar does not work when the patrol car is moving the same direction as the targent vehicle. Only when stationary and coming from an opposing direction. That has to do with how the gun uses reflections from stationary objects to determine its own speed vs the targent object.

That is incorrect.
The radar works by speed difference when in the same direction. Basically, it figures out the patrol speed. Then it looks for the bounced reflection off of the other vehicle and measures the relative speed between them. It does NOT use reflections from stationary objects, It uses a doppler shift in the radars return to calculate speed.
Example, If the police car is doing 60mph and a speeder ahead is doing 75 mph, The radar will read a doppler shift of 15mph and automatically display the cruiser speed + the difference showing 75mph on the unit. Many of the newer police cars now have front and rear antenna's and can switch to one of 3 modes. Stationary, Oncoming, (takes the cruisers speed and subtracts it from the shift speed) and same direction (adds crusier speed to the shift)

Back on Topic ~ I use a radar detector for a few reasons.
First, we have the safety warning system in many areas. If an emergency vehicle is coming, construction, hazardous road conditions (flooding/ice), or a school bus is ahead unloading kids, it triggers an alert stating that fact. It's a very nice feature.

Second, it detects red light cameras. Many red light cameras are run by a third party company and tend to send out inaccurate fines.

Third, When I was working nights, they would target the major roads for drunk drivers. This meant that they would stop you for any little thing. I was stopped once for 41mph in a 40 mph zone. Now that I work days, I just have it on because I am use to having it on.

Finally, Make sure if you get one, That you get a programmable unit that covers the European frequencies. A lot of the newer radar units being bought by police departments now utilize these frequencies and most U.S. radar detectors will not pick them up. Only a few of them can be programmed for the European frequencies.

[This message has been edited by Oreif (edited 11-25-2010).]

quote Originally posted by avengador1: They use instant on LASER here. I don't worry about it, as I set my cruise control to the speed limit. Here the limits are high enough (65 & 70 MPH) that there really is no need to speed.

Spend much time on I? I try to stay right at the speed limit but I have been in the flow of traffic and holding steady at 80+ for miles.

I just stay in the right lane driving at the speed limit with cruise control and let others fly by for the cops to catch.

Back in March of 2000, I was nailed with what they call rolling radar. I was in Oreif's state of Illinois traveling east bound on I-70 and the popo was west bound. The bird dog went off but it was too late after he got passed me he crossed the median and came after me. "Game over" I pulled over at a nearby acceleration ramp. He comes up to truck and says good morning. I said it was until you pulled me over, he got kick out that remark, glad I broke the ice on that one.
Well after he inspects my truck, creeper and all out of his trunk, he has me bring my log book back to the car with me, as I sat in the front while he is writing, there it was on his monitor, he had me locked in at 98 mph. He wrote me up for 64 in a 55. When I got home I could not write that check any faster. He asked what my hurry was and I told him that I missed my wife.

I no longer run a detector and have not been nailed since, and that was my last citation. I still exceed the limit drastically sometimes in my car but in short spurts where I know I can get away with it.

[This message has been edited by daveyhouse (edited 11-25-2010).]

I used one in High school, it saved me a few times. Even today though, MANY police departments till use constant radar set ups. It costs money to get the greatest and latest in radar, and many departments penny pinch. I would bet over have of the agencies still run 10-15 year old technology.