radar detectors useless!
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 20,800
Likes: 59
From: Tellico Village, Tn
St. Jude Donor '08
for me i found it useless, just my opinion. if it works for you great. like i said i passed 8 different troopers on different highways (rt 80, rt 78, rt 287 and garden state prkwy)
some parked on the side watching the drivers go by and some driving and not once did it go off. and as far as the speed limits maybe you should tell that to the moms passing me doing 80+mph in the mini vans with their kids in the back seat. i am not saying i need to do 100 all day long but it's nice to give it a little gas from time to time. when i am driving my work verhicle i stay around 70 and no more then 75 once in a while and that's just to try and keep up with traffic.
some parked on the side watching the drivers go by and some driving and not once did it go off. and as far as the speed limits maybe you should tell that to the moms passing me doing 80+mph in the mini vans with their kids in the back seat. i am not saying i need to do 100 all day long but it's nice to give it a little gas from time to time. when i am driving my work verhicle i stay around 70 and no more then 75 once in a while and that's just to try and keep up with traffic.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,789
Likes: 3
From: Jacksonville FL
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 4,704
Likes: 239
From: Redondo Beach CA
To the poster who brought up the old 55 mph limit. Try to remember, it was a national policy to try to establish energy independence and independence from middle eastern oil.
I certainly would have enjoyed a world without that part of the globe becoming a big deal.
Money talks, policies change. Two gulf wars and still no national energy policy since Carter. That's real smart. At least we don't have a bunch of rules to crimp our freedom to give money to people who hate us. Leadership is overrated, just ask all the third world countries that don't have anything to pay taxes on.
Obviously, you thought the speed limit useless. But it is interesting to consider, in hindsight, the results if we had adopted a national policy that marginalized mid eastern oil.
I certainly would have enjoyed a world without that part of the globe becoming a big deal.
Money talks, policies change. Two gulf wars and still no national energy policy since Carter. That's real smart. At least we don't have a bunch of rules to crimp our freedom to give money to people who hate us. Leadership is overrated, just ask all the third world countries that don't have anything to pay taxes on.
Obviously, you thought the speed limit useless. But it is interesting to consider, in hindsight, the results if we had adopted a national policy that marginalized mid eastern oil.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,366
Likes: 249
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
for me i found it useless, just my opinion. if it works for you great. like i said i passed 8 different troopers on different highways (rt 80, rt 78, rt 287 and garden state prkwy)
some parked on the side watching the drivers go by and some driving and not once did it go off. and as far as the speed limits maybe you should tell that to the moms passing me doing 80+mph in the mini vans with their kids in the back seat. i am not saying i need to do 100 all day long but it's nice to give it a little gas from time to time. when i am driving my work verhicle i stay around 70 and no more then 75 once in a while and that's just to try and keep up with traffic.
some parked on the side watching the drivers go by and some driving and not once did it go off. and as far as the speed limits maybe you should tell that to the moms passing me doing 80+mph in the mini vans with their kids in the back seat. i am not saying i need to do 100 all day long but it's nice to give it a little gas from time to time. when i am driving my work verhicle i stay around 70 and no more then 75 once in a while and that's just to try and keep up with traffic.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 19,304
Likes: 85
From: San Diego CA
I believe Laser-jammers are legal in many states. I bought my Lidatek before CA ruled them to be illegal. Escort makes a nice system. So, yes, we have the technology to jam laser and radar but for the most part, radar jammers are illegal, everywhere.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
From: alpha NJ
i try to be aware of my surroundings and i haven't had a ticket in about 17 yrs so i am sure i will be ok. i don't speed or drive like a maniac on local road because of the kids on bike, skates or just running across the street without looking. i just thought the radar detector would help out a little more that it did. the other reason i returned it was because my brother in law told me when they pull people over and they do have a detecor they will give them a ticket anyway just because they have it. like i said the way everyone drives now a days it doesn't much matter. they are doing 80-90 on a regular basis. i will just be more carful when driving the vette
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,262
Likes: 70
From: san diego CA
Old News - VERY old news - about 30 years
detectors - they do what they can - for highway use
they work well when coming into small towns (new to you) and the speed limit drops quickly, where the local cops are just waiting for a new sucker
just slow down in small towns & neighborhoods - ya don't want to run over some little kid playin in the street, like we all once did ...
detectors - they do what they can - for highway use
they work well when coming into small towns (new to you) and the speed limit drops quickly, where the local cops are just waiting for a new sucker
just slow down in small towns & neighborhoods - ya don't want to run over some little kid playin in the street, like we all once did ...
But yeah, radar detectors aren't really meant to be a get out of jail free card or anything like that. I have one and really like it for what it is.
If you want something really effective, go ahead and get a radar / laser jammer. Not exactly legal, but it seems like that might be a product that you're more interested in
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Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 73,568
Likes: 33
From: Somewhere in Mo
St. Jude Donor '09-'10, '14
Yes; To collect fines. The country's interstate system was designed in the 1930s for a sustained travel limit of 80 MPH. And that was based on that era's technology.
The irony is that for all the fines collected, the state's law enforcement system is costlier to tax payers, than revenue received. Of course, there's lots of lawyers, and state jobs involved with their attendant union.
The irony is that for all the fines collected, the state's law enforcement system is costlier to tax payers, than revenue received. Of course, there's lots of lawyers, and state jobs involved with their attendant union.
However our interstates our perfectly safe at speeds of over 80 MPH in todays cars yes.
But my god man, have you seen some of the drivers on the road?
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 73,568
Likes: 33
From: Somewhere in Mo
St. Jude Donor '09-'10, '14
To the poster who brought up the old 55 mph limit. Try to remember, it was a national policy to try to establish energy independence and independence from middle eastern oil.
I certainly would have enjoyed a world without that part of the globe becoming a big deal.
Money talks, policies change. Two gulf wars and still no national energy policy since Carter. That's real smart. At least we don't have a bunch of rules to crimp our freedom to give money to people who hate us. Leadership is overrated, just ask all the third world countries that don't have anything to pay taxes on.
Obviously, you thought the speed limit useless. But it is interesting to consider, in hindsight, the results if we had adopted a national policy that marginalized mid eastern oil.
I certainly would have enjoyed a world without that part of the globe becoming a big deal.
Money talks, policies change. Two gulf wars and still no national energy policy since Carter. That's real smart. At least we don't have a bunch of rules to crimp our freedom to give money to people who hate us. Leadership is overrated, just ask all the third world countries that don't have anything to pay taxes on.
Obviously, you thought the speed limit useless. But it is interesting to consider, in hindsight, the results if we had adopted a national policy that marginalized mid eastern oil.
Cruising
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
From: Lethbridge Alberta
I have used a radar detector for years, just upgraded to a GPS model. I wouldn't go down the street without it. I like to drive 10-20 mph over and it has saved me countless times. I am very aware of my surroundings and watch for brake lights and cars on the side of the road. There is no substitute for common sense.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 352
From: Carson City Nevada
Something to be proud of, ...... I guess. To bad you guys couldn't spend more time on busting crooked politicians out there. A lot more dangerous than speeders.
Last edited by o2bnkc; Apr 30, 2013 at 06:09 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,060
Likes: 291
From: Pasco WA
Traffic fines are probably one of the few ways cities/counties can add revenue. And large insurance companies even subsidize police department budgets, which help pay for stuff like protective gear. Love the cop; hate the traffic officer. Though, It'd be chaos on the highways without them.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 297
Likes: 26
From: San Jose California
Old News - VERY old news - about 30 years
detectors - they do what they can - for highway use
they work well when coming into small towns (new to you) and the speed limit drops quickly, where the local cops are just waiting for a new sucker
just slow down in small towns & neighborhoods - ya don't want to run over some little kid playin in the street, like we all once did ...
detectors - they do what they can - for highway use
they work well when coming into small towns (new to you) and the speed limit drops quickly, where the local cops are just waiting for a new sucker
just slow down in small towns & neighborhoods - ya don't want to run over some little kid playin in the street, like we all once did ...
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 18,643
Likes: 14
From: Norman Oklahoma - The Only State in the Union with no Blue Counties!
i searched the forum and did some online research on the radar detectors ended up getting the valentine v1. used for about a week and passed about 8 different troopers with not one peep from the v1.
my brother-in-law is a trooper and i asked him about it, he said they only use the instant on and the laser. they wait until they observe you speeding and zap you by then it's too late so i sent it back. i live in NJ and drive most of the major highways everyday. normally in my work car i am doing 70 and everyone is flying by me so if i do 80-90 in the vette i am just keeping up with the flow of traffic shouldn't be a problem.
my brother-in-law is a trooper and i asked him about it, he said they only use the instant on and the laser. they wait until they observe you speeding and zap you by then it's too late so i sent it back. i live in NJ and drive most of the major highways everyday. normally in my work car i am doing 70 and everyone is flying by me so if i do 80-90 in the vette i am just keeping up with the flow of traffic shouldn't be a problem.
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From: Whippany NJ
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I've never owned a radar detector and probably won't. I drive at 5 over most of the time (except in towns) and have passed LEOs on the road at that speed with not even a second glance from them. I have received several tickets in my 42 years of driving and can honestly say I was guilty - I was speeding and paid the price. If someone else wants to go well over the speed limit, so be it - let them get the ticket.