radar detectors?

[brikis98]

my drive to work has long stretches of two lane road, which, for some dumbass reason, has a 45mph speed limit. i see no reason why this is, given that it's very straight and has nothing but farmland on both sides. most ppl around me feel the same way and drive ~75mph on this road. however, i see some1 pulled over every other day near these parts and it's starting to worry me. going 30mph (or more) over the speed limit is prob a serious offense, but driving 45mph would make my commute quite a bit longer, which is a pain in the ass.

so, are radar/laser detectors worth the money? do they work well and if so, which brands/models? do you get in more trouble if you get pulled over and the cop sees it?

 

[chambersc]

All they do is notify you when your car gets tagged with "the beam." It's snake oil.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: chambersc
All they do is notify you when your car gets tagged with "the beam." It's snake oil.

Totally wrong. I have been saved MANY times doing 15 or so over and slowed down for the detector and have yet to get a ticket with one.

Especially so with radar. You detect it before you are close enough for it to get a reading for the cop.

 

[RGN]

The best of the best (V1, Escort 8500, Bell something or another) are only ok. If you get tagged by laser, the cop has the speed before your detector went off. IMHO, its not worth the $300.

 

[aphex]

As long as you get a good one, yes, VERY MUCH worth it.

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: chambersc
All they do is notify you when your car gets tagged with "the beam." It's snake oil.

With laser yes, with radar you'll get a decent amount of notice.

The cheap ones are a waste of money, but if you can afford something a $400 Escort or Valentine One they might pay off.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: chambersc
All they do is notify you when your car gets tagged with "the beam." It's snake oil.

With laser yes, with radar you'll get a decent amount of notice.

The cheap ones are a waste of money, but if you can afford something a $400 Escort or Valentine One they might pay off.

I got hit with laser, 75 in a 55 construction zone, and did not get a ticket.

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: chambersc
All they do is notify you when your car gets tagged with "the beam." It's snake oil.

With laser yes, with radar you'll get a decent amount of notice.

The cheap ones are a waste of money, but if you can afford something a $400 Escort or Valentine One they might pay off.

I got hit with laser, 75 in a 55 construction zone, and did not get a ticket.

You got lucky, very lucky. The way a radar detector works is it catches the scatter sent from the radar when it deflects off of other objects. Laser guns, instead of being pointed straight out, have to be aimed specifically at you and beam is so small that it will hit only what it's aimed at. If your detector goes off saying "LASER", the cop has already found your speed, he just didn't feel like pulling you over.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: chambersc
All they do is notify you when your car gets tagged with "the beam." It's snake oil.

With laser yes, with radar you'll get a decent amount of notice.

The cheap ones are a waste of money, but if you can afford something a $400 Escort or Valentine One they might pay off.

I got hit with laser, 75 in a 55 construction zone, and did not get a ticket.

It basically means you got lucky. The cop probably saw you slowing down and decided to just forgive you.

 

[brikis98]

so how do i find out if the cops in my area primarily use lasers or radar?

 

[dawks]

I've had my radar go off several times while doing 130km/hr in 100km/hr zones, was able to hit the brake, and managed to not get pulled over. This is with a $100CND detector, which has easily paid for it self over and over again. Well worth it for me.. My brother-in-law on the other hand refuses to get one, and gets at least 1 ticket per year.. I on the other hand have not gotten one since I started using it 4 years ago.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: chambersc
All they do is notify you when your car gets tagged with "the beam." It's snake oil.

With laser yes, with radar you'll get a decent amount of notice.

The cheap ones are a waste of money, but if you can afford something a $400 Escort or Valentine One they might pay off.

I got hit with laser, 75 in a 55 construction zone, and did not get a ticket.

It basically means you got lucky. The cop probably saw you slowing down and decided to just forgive you.

Yea, I figured that. But to me, says that laser detection is worth it. Without, I would not have slowed down as soon.

 

[SoulAssassin]

I used to have one but got annoyed with the false positives it would give. It had different levels from 1-9 and I would get way too many 1's from alarm systems and automatic doors and stuff like that. I haven't looked at them in years but if someone would have invented one that simply beeped on level 2 instead of 1 I would have paid a mint for it.

 

[aphex]

One upside to laser is that nearly everytime i've seen it (at least here in Tampa), you see the cop car pulled off to the side of the road, the cop is standing there balancing the laser on his arm to keep it steady... I've seen em 5-6 times, the laser went off as soon as he hit me, but it was obvious he was there from a mile away.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

And to the OP, yes, they are very worth it. If Escort and Valentine are too expensive, consider a Bel. I've been saved by my detector numerous times, and all of them I would NEVER have known a cop was there unless my detector went off. A couple of times were on lightly trafficed country roads where I would have been doing 20+ over the limit had my detector not notified me of a cop about half a mile ahead driving in my direction. Other times the detector goes off like crazy, but I can't for the life of me find the cop, which means some can hide exceptionally well (these were not false alarms either).

 

[acemcmac]

I'd swear on mine. You are an idiot to depend on it for laser, but I have never for a minute regreted buying and hardwiring my x50.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Originally posted by: chambersc
All they do is notify you when your car gets tagged with "the beam." It's snake oil.

With laser yes, with radar you'll get a decent amount of notice.

The cheap ones are a waste of money, but if you can afford something a $400 Escort or Valentine One they might pay off.

I got hit with laser, 75 in a 55 construction zone, and did not get a ticket.

It basically means you got lucky. The cop probably saw you slowing down and decided to just forgive you.

Yea, I figured that. But to me, says that laser detection is worth it. Without, I would not have slowed down as soon.

Agreed. Or you may not have even slowed down at all

 

[l RusH l]

If there was a way to find out if the cops on that road are using radar or lasers it would help you out in your decision.

I once got tagged by a lazer...it surprised me, the warning lasted about 2 seconds and I was already very close to the cops...so I`m sure they already knew my speed.

Some places on the internet sell laser blocking devices that are placed on the front grill and block the laser from taking a reading....seems fishy to me though.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
I used to have one but got annoyed with the false positives it would give. It had different levels from 1-9 and I would get way too many 1's from alarm systems and automatic doors and stuff like that. I haven't looked at them in years but if someone would have invented one that simply beeped on level 2 instead of 1 I would have paid a mint for it.

There are four different bands that I know of: K, Ka, X, and Pop. K is usually those roadside speed cameras, Ka is DEFINITELY a cop, Pop is DEFINITELY a cop, and X is very very rarely a cop. You'll get a ton of false X band warnings, and you just have to learn to intelligently ignore them. If X goes off in a heavy shopping area or near a grocery store or something, you can ignore it fairly safely. If it goes off in the middle of nowhere... it's probably a cop.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: brikis98
so how do i find out if the cops in my area primarily use lasers or radar?

I think if you go on some radar detector forums they can tell you.

 

[Skeeedunt]

Originally posted by: l RusH l
Some places on the internet sell laser blocking devices that are placed on the front grill and block the laser from taking a reading....seems fishy to me though.

I think these are generally illegal.

I always wondered if cops get pissed off if they walk up to a car and see a radar detector stuck to the windshield (whether they pulled you over for speeding, broken tail light, or whatever).

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
I used to have one but got annoyed with the false positives it would give. It had different levels from 1-9 and I would get way too many 1's from alarm systems and automatic doors and stuff like that. I haven't looked at them in years but if someone would have invented one that simply beeped on level 2 instead of 1 I would have paid a mint for it.

There are four different bands that I know of: K, Ka, X, and Pop. K is usually those roadside speed cameras, Ka is DEFINITELY a cop, Pop is DEFINITELY a cop, and X is very very rarely a cop. You'll get a ton of false X band warnings, and you just have to learn to intelligently ignore them. If X goes off in a heavy shopping area or near a grocery store or something, you can ignore it fairly safely. If it goes off in the middle of nowhere... it's probably a cop.

One reason i love the Escort X50, you can turn off the bands you don't want. X-band has been off since day 1.

 

[Rastus]

Get a jammer.

I can picture the scene now. Dusk. Cop parked on the 45 mph road. Half asleep. All of a sudden his radar goes off, but it says 45 on it. There is nobody around for miles. He scratches his head and get out of his car to get a better look. All of a sudden, brikis98 goes screaming by at about 130.

 

[Ragnarok2]

I got an older model radar/laser detector, some older Whistler model. It has saved my ass numerous times, especially since I only paid $20 for it here on Anandtech. The cops around here(Naperville, IL) use primarily K bandwidth and occasionally Ka bandwidth. The only time I see LASER on my detector is when I honk my horn

If you want to know what some of the best detecors are out there, read this http://www.radarbusters.com/
This guy's a retired cop with a passion for radar detectors, and he test them and stuff like that, so it's a good idea to look around there prior to buying a radar detector. As stated before, the cheap models are worthless.

 

[Shawn]

Saved me several times.