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Hmm, If you get caught by an unmarked car behind you, you deserve a ticket! In ~60 years of driving have never had an accident with another car (looking for wood as luck was certainly a part of that record!) A major reason is you must know what cars are around you at all times. That means a subconscious viewing continually of all mirrors. In my C7 coupes that has also meant a blind spot mirror on the drivers side (but that is another story!) If a car is coming up from behind fast, it could be a cop!
Even had to block the silly OnStar lights in the center mirror as my subconscious was occasionally thinking those lights could be a cop,
Simple solution is black electrical tape and a hole punch! Put on my 2014 C7 and first minor "mod" on my Grand Sport!
I've been trying to catalog the unmarked vehicles just on the 12 mile interstate drive from my home to the Mississippi River. I swear it is just like the Agents in the Matrix. They can be anyone, or everyone. It can be any type of SUV, truck or sedan on the road. And they don't have to be behind you. While you are speeding and zipping past cars while looking in your rear view mirror, you zipped right past a roadblocking Expedition or GMC truck that was actually an unmarked cop vehicle that will take pursuit behind you to pace your speed before flipping on their lights and pulling you over. Other than having tinted windows, there is absolutely nothing that gives it away. I use to be able to see the cop lights in the windows, but now they are very tiny, but very bright LED's. They used to have plain black cop wheels with large vent holes to cool the brakes, but now they have nice aluminum wheels. The plates are just regular plates, not cop issue. I have never seen the same model car twice that has pulled someone over, or can see anything that would had clued me it was a cop car. As a rule, I will suspect any vehicle where all the windows are tinted as a potential unmarked cop car until I can look it over more closely, or can see who is driving it. I drive fast, then slow up when I see a suspect vehicle, then speed up again if it isn't a cop. They all have uniformed officers driving them, so if the driver is wearing street clothes, it's safe to keep going.
I just flow with traffic, don't street race or do anything stupid, and I understand I'm driving an LEO magnet. I don't give them any reason to even pay me a second glance. Do I ever exceed the speed limit? Sure, I do, but I'm never blatant about it, no burnouts, no 150mph runs at night, etc. and if I want to race I take it to the track.
Come on TKgs2010 ! Be a sport. Get out there and have some fun.
Last edited by joemessman; 08-15-2018 at 01:26 PM.
I appreciate all the sincerely helpful information. It’s good to hear everyone’s thoughts. To those who say simply “don’t speed” I didn’t buy a Z06 to do 55mph. Every now and again every corvette owner will float above the speed limit. So I’m just trying to take precautions, understanding NOTHING is guaranteed. I do know l plan on cruising as well as gibing it some gas.
IMO it's a matter of probabilities and risk/reward... Most of the 8300 miles on my C7 were gathered on road trips in unfamiliar areas, so not exceeding the flow of traffic carries a reduced risk, and I have noticed that many states are getting stealthy with their unmarked vehicles, from Dodges to SUVs to Camaros - the LE equivalent of wolves in sheep's clothing.
When the only speed measuring technology was radar, the probability of detecting the speed trap in time to avoid meeting new LEOs was high, and the risk was manageable.
With the advent of laser systems that can target individual cars, a "warning" might as well be a "pull over, you're busted" audio message, and the probability of detection went waay up, with infinitesimal probability of avoiding a citation, ESPECIALLY at speed limit plus 20 or 30. The increasing use of laser detection tipped the risk/reward scale toward not playing...
I got a radar detector out of my system with my first C4 - 1990.... had five Vettes since then, 700K miles, only a warning in 29 years because of no front plate.... drive 5 mph over - no problems.....
It doesn't matter what the speed limit is, if you are doing over or under the traffic around you, YOU ARE THE DANGEROUS ONE! If traffic is moving too fast for you to drive safely, get off the road. Or at least move over so the people stacked up behind you can move on.
On the highway, speed isn't dangerous in and of itself, difference in speed is.
I guess you don't follow lawfully imposed speed limits then. That's too bad. You're always putting others lives in grave danger then. There's no possible reason to justify that behavior.
I guess you don't follow lawfully imposed speed limits then. That's too bad. You're always putting others lives in grave danger then. There's no possible reason to justify that behavior.
You're always putting others lives in grave danger then.
Always? Who's life would be at risk in the case of say a situation like pictured below? If you don't floor it here, why not just sell your vette and get a corolla?
There is a time and place for everything. When no one is around I like to enjoy the car, but a little radar protection never hurts.
Always? Who's life would be at risk in the case of say a situation like pictured below? If you don't floor it here, why not just sell your vette and get a corolla?
There is a time and place for everything. When no one is around I like to enjoy the car, but a little radar protection never hurts.
Lol …
Just look at that pic … Lol.
Last edited by PatternDayTrader; 08-15-2018 at 03:03 PM.
I... As a rule, I will suspect any vehicle where all the windows are tinted as a potential unmarked cop car until I can look it over more closely, or can see who is driving it. I drive fast, then slow up when I see a suspect vehicle, then speed up again if it isn't a cop. They all have uniformed officers driving them, so if the driver is wearing street clothes, it's safe to keep going.
It's even worse where I live near the intersection of I20 and I95! You can come from Texas or Florida without passing a traffic light! Perfect sport for a drug interdiction team to catch "stuff" coming from Texas and Florida to "big cites" in the NE!
Have a friend who is a State Constable and works with the teams that usually have ~10 unmarked cars and often a helicopter! They are mostly SUV's with blacked out windows. They are all different since most are confiscated when they catch someone with drugs!
They have drug sniffing dogs and one of the SUV's has a place where if they suspect drugs or alcohol use, you have to pee in a can!
They love nothing better than to stop what they suspect might be a drug transport and if you have a licence plate frame that covers, "any part of any letter or number" you'll get a $125 ticket! They actually seem to prefer the return trip on the South bound lane as they get cash if they find any evidence of drugs! Those dogs will find even if you had it in the car! Can't do anything with the drugs!
As I mentioned previously, I try to avoid the interstate because of 18 wheeler tire treads in the road and many speeding distracted drivers! When I do use it, I set the cruise control at 7 mph over the limit! I have a perimeter plate frame that does not cover any letter or number! And NO plastic plate cover allowed!
Depends on flow of traffic and is the posted speed correct.
We have a freeway here which is 55 MPH because the on-ramps are very short and the service drives are 30 MPH. So in the right lane 55 MPH is probably correct. But going 70 MPH in the other two lanes is fine. But unfortunately we don't do lane speed limits like Germany and some other countries do.
Further, going 80-85 MPH on most if not all 70 MPH freeways is fine, they are in fact designed for you to drive that fast if not faster. This is how speed limits when the 55 MPH was overturned were raised so quickly. Michigan just too a bunch of freeways and raised them to 75 MPH up north, and they even raise regular TWO LANE roads to 65 MPH! These roads did not change since they were 70 MPH and 55 MPH, and the drivers actually aren't driving them faster, it's just legal now.
Speed limit is mostly arbitrary and has nothing to do with safety of cars. Rather it is safety of pedestrians or other users close to roads (this is why in a down town it's 25 MPH usually and not 35 MPH).
If you're not driving the speed limit, you're the problem. Running 85 in a 55? Yeah, "you're fine!" Lol!
The only problem with trying to force others to drive 85 in a 55 as you do, is traffic fatalities.
Virginia is one of the few States where they are still illegal. They REALLY enforce it harshly on the big interstates!
IF you drive into Virginia be sure to turn it off, GEICO has purchased and gave the radar detector-detectors for all the State police cars and to many of the bigger departments as well. Be careful, if they can't readily see it they can impound the car to find it. My buddy had his permanently mounted in the dashboard and they "helped him" remove it from his 911 Convertible.
I guess nobody has GEICO on their Corvettes as they will not insure Fiber Glass cars....
Just remember how GEICO wants you to get a ticket for using a radar detector next time you are looking for auto insurance.
Good Luck to you who are still allowed the "Freedom" to have and own one!
Have had multiple Valentines for decades. Originally had an Escort, which was designed by Mike Valentine before he left to start his own company. There is no one like him. Great company. They customer service and support is top notch. It's easy to see the Mike's engineering focus in the unit. Competitors are more focused on pr/marketing stuff.
Having had the Escort Max CI 360 highly recommended by a friend, I went with it. Fantastic install, out of sight and not blocking my viewing area. While it was expensive, it saved me twice on the way home from Bend, OR. One was K band the other was Ka band. I was shocked the other day to have X band, K band and Ka band hits from several police cars that had stop an interdiction on I-82 at 395. I had no idea anyone around these parts still used X band. No later hits yet but just a matter of time.
08-15-2018, 01:12 PM
I just flow with traffic, don't street race or do anything stupid, and I understand I'm driving an LEO magnet. I don't give them any reason to even pay me a second glance. Do I ever exceed the speed limit? Sure, I do, but I'm never blatant about it, no burnouts, no 150mph runs at night, etc. and if I want to race I take it to the track.
