Agreed! Love it here. It was even better before the Internet attention. 30 years ago we could drive the dragon all 4th of July weekend and see very few other vehicles of any kind. I was riding a motorcycle then. Many great memories for sure.

 

Hard to say in my opinion. I've been playing the radar game since the 90's. If the cop got his exact speed then he did have his radar on and you may have detected it in enough time to slow down some, mostly dependent on terrain. I can pick the radar up around a corner off-axis, but only have a couple of seconds to react to it. Every motorcycle cop I have come across in my area have their radar always on when moving. Parked is a different story and they are using laser at that point. The cop could have a switch on the bike to turn the radar instant on/off quickly, but seems unlikely in my experiences, plus he got you mid-turn. Highway patrol vehicles do that all the time. There is a learning curve with detectors, they aren't going to save you in all situations.

 

Way back 25 over was the case.ocga 40-6-189 is the new law and has been in place for a good number of years now.

 

Now have legal representation for pending court date. Also pulled the trigger on Uninden R3 and Blendmount mirror mount / wire kit.

Jammers are illegal in TN, so didn't go there. Researched Uniden R7, Valentine One G2 and Escort 360c as initial targets. For my purposes had about landed on the R7 and the R3 kept coming up in reviews so added it to list. Wanted a standalone unit not dependent on phone pairing for GPS functions. Something simple, with a compact form factor and proven performance. The Uniden R3 checked the boxes and at < $250. At that price point felt like a no brainer.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

 

I use the R3 in my C6 and the R7 in my daily. If you're daily isn't the Corvette then I think you did very well. I just find the arrows on the C7 to be very helpful and worth the extra bucks for daily driving. I'll put the R7 in the Corvette if I take any longer road trips.

BTW for future readers - you can attach the Escort M1 dash cam to the R3/Blendmount but you'll need a short RJ12 extension. The R3 power attaches to the left side of the unit and the M1 is designed to attach to the right. The R7 attaches to the right and is extremely easy. (I use the M1 in both rides - expensive but a quality dash cam if you use Uniden/Escort).

 

Yep, about 2 months ago I got hit with a handsfree and careless driving because I had fun with a mustang on the street. I thought the truck park cops could not pull me over. I was wrong. Very wrong. Paid them though and being in middle TN I also got 5 points for them. I tried to use those ticket apps like Off the record, winit, and tickethero but they didn't serve my small town so I just took the loss and paid the $240. I technically did break the law and I respected it and he was coolabout it but still wrote the citaitions. It sucks still because in TN you can only get 10 points. When you do(don't ask) you get a hearing that could suspend your license.12 points automatically does it for 1 year.

Still haven't gotten a speeding though

 

IDK about TN but in most states you can take Traffic School if you haven't had a ticket in some time. If you take TS it won't hit your record. TS is not cheaper than just paying ticket but it keeps your insurance from gigging you.

A lawyer may get you out of the ticket but again you aren't going to save any money. Probably cost more.

 

IMO the OP is doing it right. Might cost more up front but getting it to a non-moving is worth it for saving insurance $$.

 

The radar detector thing is not a straightforward question. I have had a Valentine forever (two hardware exchange upgrades) and like it. The lack of a really good easy to use app to give it GPS capabilities is frustrating, though. The apps that are out there are confusing and kludgy.

Questions to determine whether a detector will help you:

Does your state use laser? For all practical purposes, the detector will only pick up laser when the cop it shooting you with it and you're caught. Have gotten two tickets from laser way back in the day, both times the detector "worked" perfectly and told me that I was hosed.

If your state uses laser, is it used everywhere? Where I used to live, the staties used laser on the state managed highways, but I never saw it used anywhere else. So, detector worked well for back roads, but not for major highways.

Does you state have/use instant on guns? I have never actually run in to one of these, but they are certainly out there. Yes, an instant on gun could technically be just as bad as laser, but I don't think I have ever seen a cop sit there and clock cars that selectively. They will probably clock someone in front of you and you'll have some warning. I'm sure there are clever cops out there using instant on very effectively, but the situation is not as bleak as with laser.

One of the many, many, many advantages of the state I live in now is that the cops I have seen drive around with K band radar blasting. They seem to use it everywhere, and there seems to be no instant on. In terms of you coming around a corner and getting caught, it is highly dependent on the area. In some places you will get absolutely nothing until you round the corner and are in direct line of sight. In other places you will get a warning very very far away and will have plenty of time.

Waze is also amazing.

I don't drive like a maniac anymore, but the Valentine + Waze work very well for a reasonable level of spirited driving. The fact that the Vette loves to cruise super slow as much as it loves to drive fast is a nice feature of this car! Cops in the Northeast are also pretty forgiving on the highways these days, they don't seem to want to pull you over to bust your ***** and collect revenue, they seem to mostly target people who are really ripping. I give them credit for enforcing speed limits in a sensible way given the capabilities of modern cars.

 

Insurance companies now ask if you have taken a class.

Lawyers can get things done you would not think possible. Well, the lawyer with the right connections can.

If you get a speeding ticket your rates will remain higher for 3 1/2 years.

Valentine radar detectors used to be state of the art but are now way behind the times.

 

OK, for those with Blendmount mirror taps to power your detector...

Doing a bit of research and see the "mirror wiggle" issue mentioned with tampering, and some cases as factory. Currently mine is fine... no play, vibration or wiggle.

Trying to decide if mirror removal is best route - chancing the 3 pin issue, or if wiring harness can simply be unplugged to work with?

Tried downloading instructions from Blendmount, but link to PDF is dead.

Any suggestions from experience?

EDIT:
Disregard, found a couple of threads with details sought.

 

Radar detectors have limited worth. When you hear the signal that you are being painted by the radar they already have your speed.

The advise to get an attorney is a good one. I was a cop for 21 years and my kids were good drivers while living at home, but my youngest son turned into a ticket magnet in his senior year of high school and all through college. My initial reaction was to let him pay the fine and learn but my wife hired counsel and my son beat five or six citations until he finally lost. He drives really good now that he has to pay them himself and oh he is now an attorney, go figure .

 

That's incorrect on so many levels.... the short answer is detectors are good at catching the bleed of signals shot at cars in front of you. They are excellent at catching the signal long before you are painted by lazy officers (about half where I live) that drive around with their radar on all the time. While not perfect they are a useful tool in identifying speed traps. Like any good tool understanding exactly how it works, what it does, and how to operate it properly is invaluable.

 

So very very wrong.

Radar detectors are designed to signal you when the LEO is "painting" a vehicle in front of you long before you yourself get painted. This gives you plenty of time to slow down before you reach the speed trap. Now, if you are some kind of moron thinking that you can speed when you are the lone car on the highway and that your detector will save you from receiving a road souvenir...well...whatever detector you have will not save you.

Now if you are talking laser that's a different story. To effectively be protected from laser speed traps you will need a laser jammer/shifter. Otherwise when your laser detector goes off it's too late...you're getting cited.

 

I don't know how it works where you live, but out here, the process is a total racket.

I used an attorney to fight a ticket many years ago. Even though the attorney represented me, I went to the hearing to see how it would go. When my case came up, the attorney said absolutely nothing about driving or the infraction. Her tactics were 100% technical in nature, to invalidate the evidence. What astonished me, though, was what the judge said after her statement: He actually pointed out to her a better technicality to invalidate the ticket than what she came up with. That's right. The judge *told her* how to get it dismissed.

If I had gone in to defend myself, the judge would have listened to me and then said "guilty" - just like he did with every case he heard that was not using an attorney.

Also, for what it's worth, I have used a Valentine 1 for over 20 years. I would echo that it does not prevent tickets. It's just another "informational awareness" tool to help you make decisions. In the scenario you describe, you would not have had time to slow down to avoid getting tagged.

 

OUTCOME BUMP:

For all those that advised getting an attorney... THANK YOU!!

Dismissed, no traffic school, no insurance ding. Had to pay $115.50 for court costs or ??. Attorney fee = $399. Total cost = $554.50

Just posting for others' reference when ticketed. Would not have gone attorney route were it not for advice of the forum. Now my advice too is... GET AN ATTORNEY!

 

Thank you for the update, it's always appreciated.

 

Good news!

 

good to know thanks for the update!

 

Great, I have always used one, never lost, although it has been a long time since I got a ticket. Congrats on the win.