Radar Detectors Are Now Worthless

[walter]

The ones they use in houston are a laser, no radar involved. so you get caught every time. don't waste your money fighting, The judge will side with the officer.

HowStuffWorks "How does a laser speed gun work to measure a car's speed?"

+1 There is no such thing as a laser detector only a ticket detector. Think about the physics behind laser. It's a beam that is practically instantaneous (Speed of light anyone?) if they shot you they caught you simple as that.

Also I work for the DOT and I know from talking to some of the traffic signal guys that the freeways are now littered with radar emitters which completely throw off your sensor with the constant chirping. I took my radar off because I was tired of hearing it go off every time I ran by one of those emitters which operate in the K band. Nowadays X = doors, K = emitters, Ka or Ku are your best bet for radar but as 09 said Cops like laser better these days because of how they work.

Best way not to get a ticket is to not do anything that might land you one. Seriously though for a 30 minute trip at 80mph your time savings compared to traveling 65mph is only a matter of a handful of minutes in real world conditions. Why pay more in gas and huge fines for just minutes?

 

[imfamousjim]

Best way not to get a ticket is to not do anything that might land you one. Seriously though for a 30 minute trip at 80mph your time savings compared to traveling 65mph is only a matter of a handful of minutes in real world conditions. Why pay more in gas and huge fines for just minutes?

well, even at a more realistic 75 mph (it is Rarely unsafe to be driving at a constant 75mph, but often ticket able [anyone who drives on 195 in jersey knows this])
it saves me 5 minutes a day... 20 hours a year.
it adds up....
it's way worth the gas to me... if only tickets were given for just unsafe drivers not just ones driving fast

with the revenue coming from tickets, im suprised the police don't sell their own radar detectors guaranteed to work, but at a good price, they could make alot of easy money that way. haha, maybe someday?

 

[Sparty92]

My rules for speeding:

1. Always have a car visible in front of you or behind you, in your lane. If they are a dot on the horizon, don't speed. They must be close enough to you that you can recognize the vehicle make.

2. Do not camp out in the left lane. Ever. Middle lane is best.

3. Don't speed around blind corners or hills.

4. Always use your mirrors to check back on freeway entrance ramps, EVERY time you pass one. Always look FAR ahead and behind you. Most people look at 1-2 cars in front/back of them. Look 1/4 mile down the road. Cops by me hide under overpasses, too

5. Don't speed at night. Ever.

Cop cars by me can be Crown Vics, Dodge Chargers, Impalas, Tahoes...you name it. Most are only marked on one side of the car and many have their lights mounted INSIDE the car.

Strangely, I don't speed much in my Mustang. I usually roll at 70-75 on the highway. I occasionally do a 3rd gear blast entering the freeway from on-ramps...105-110 or so...but then coast down to 70. Around town I might do 5 over.

Knock on wood, but I have never gotten a speeding ticket in my life (I'm cough...40..cough). I stopped using a radar detector over 10 years ago.

 

[chad9350]

Escort Passport 9500ci, the only way to "fly"


ROUSH Performance: Escort Passport 9500ci Radar Detector

been rollin' one for a year... good product!

 

[Mr_Q]

My rules for speeding:

1. Always have a car visible in front of you or behind you, in your lane. If they are a dot on the horizon, don't speed. They must be close enough to you that you can recognize the vehicle make.

2. Do not camp out in the left lane. Ever. Middle lane is best.

3. Don't speed around blind corners or hills.

4. Always use your mirrors to check back on freeway entrance ramps, EVERY time you pass one. Always look FAR ahead and behind you. Most people look at 1-2 cars in front/back of them. Look 1/4 mile down the road. Cops by me hide under overpasses, too

5. Don't speed at night. Ever.

Cop cars by me can be Crown Vics, Dodge Chargers, Impalas, Tahoes...you name it. Most are only marked on one side of the car and many have their lights mounted INSIDE the car.

Strangely, I don't speed much in my Mustang. I usually roll at 70-75 on the highway. I occasionally do a 3rd gear blast entering the freeway from on-ramps...105-110 or so...but then coast down to 70. Around town I might do 5 over.

Knock on wood, but I have never gotten a speeding ticket in my life (I'm cough...40..cough). I stopped using a radar detector over 10 years ago.

+1-ish

 

[Preston951]

Grey ~

I'll be driving up to Alpine, AZ on a 300 mile trip tomorrow.

I'll be sure to let you know how the Valentine 1 is... I sure think it will come in handy on those LONG, OPEN roads!

 

[MontereyDave]

Did you ask the officer to show you the radar screen?

I got a ticket that I'm going to try to argue in court because the officer wrote my ticket for 50 mph but I asked him to show me the radar and reluctantly said, "I'll show it to you only if you first sign the ticket". He showed it to me and the screen said "target 44, lock 48". He justified writing 50 on the ticket because he said I was still accellerating so a split second later I would have been going 50. This was at the end of a 35 mph zone that also served as an entrance to a 65 mph highway. Cop was sitting at the intersection right beside the Chinese restaurant.

Good luck man. I hope luck is with me too.

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[godfather55v]

i feel all u guys pain i got a couple 10 overs last year, got a passport e8500 after the first one got another one 2 month later. In those 2 months it only went off twice for actual cops. I found it to be worthless and sold it. I live out in BFE Iowa and cops have nothing better to do then sit and wait for something ripe for the pickens then, and there is nothing in the world that is going to give you heads up to that.

advice on the ticket, get a lawyer and plead it down and hope for the best. good luck my friends. This is by far the biggest downfall of owning a mustang.

 

[darien87]

Did you ask the officer to show you the radar screen?

I got a ticket that I'm going to try to argue in court because the officer wrote my ticket for 50 mph but I asked him to show me the radar and reluctantly said, "I'll show it to you only if you first sign the ticket". He showed it to me and the screen said "target 44, lock 48". He justified writing 50 on the ticket because he said I was still accellerating so a split second later I would have been going 50. This was at the end of a 35 mph zone that also served as an entrance to a 65 mph highway. Cop was sitting at the intersection right beside the Chinese restaurant.

Good luck man. I hope luck is with me too.



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Cops suck!!! What a BS thing to do. He just camps out there and writes up tickets, because he knows people will be accelerating since it's a freeway entrance. Jackass.

Mine was kinda the same way. He got me coming down a hill. He said I was going 46, but I'm sure I was going about 40. Plus there were 2 cars in front of me going the same speed. I told him I was going with the flow of traffic, but he said, "No you weren't." Plus there are no speed limit sings on the road until AFTER where he pulled me over. Total BS.

 

[GOLDENPONY]

Cops used to be Knights of the Road, now they're just overweight, doughnut eating tax collectors and whores for the insurance companies. Public safety my a$$.

 

[sonnier]

The only detector I will ever use is a Valentine 1. It's pricey but mine saved me numerous times. It's just too bad some punks smashed in my driver side window a few months ago and stole mine. Still haven't replaced it but I've been paying for a wedding instead lately.

 

[Preston951]

Valentine 1 = Epic win. Just put it to the test...

Saved me from 1 "Instant On" laser, 2 roadside cameras, and 2 oncoming cops.

 

[GOLDENPONY]

Countermeasures

Took a little day trip over the 4th from Cincinnati to Dayton and back. Counted 18 cops. You can say they're worthless, but I'll never be without one. I like my Passport 8500 x50.

 

[Lotion]

Escort Passport 9500ci, the only way to "fly"


ROUSH Performance: Escort Passport 9500ci Radar Detector

+1 here. I have this radar dector and i find myself sometimes wondering why this thing is goin off due to the cop being detected so far back lol. Its pretty good. I have not gotten a ticket since ive had it.

Even if its not thetop of the line escort most are pretty insane. Well worth the money.

P.S. My friend got pulled over from a cop throwing his radar out of a unmarked van with police cruisers around the corner so they getting trickey around here as well lol. I respect cops for what they do but sometimes i do agree its bull**** what they do to make their quota. No reason to camp a speed zone change.

 

[darien87]

Just got a ticket this morning for my window tint!!!

I don't even have super dark tint on my front windows. I've got the middle darkness. Gimme a break, legal tint is completely pointless. You can't even tell the difference between a legally tinted window and a non-tinted window. I guess the guy needed to make his quota. What a dick. I HATE cops.

 

[Lifter583]

Well Guys I have had my Beltronics 995 Vector for 3 yrs now. It has saved my A** a hundred times at least. I have never gotten a ticket in my Mustang and I assure you I drive it like I stole it! (May the Mustang gods continue to be with me! )

 

[cusp]

Escort 8500 X50 Blue

Mine has saved me numerous times. But the detector by itself is not a turn key solution.

Others have mentioned strategies and I can't think of one that has not already been mentioned.

As far as the detector goes though I have some observations I can share.

I have not seen X-Band used for LE in ages. I have disabled it and my false alarms have gone down by 90 percent.

K band LE Radar is getting rare also. I see it mostly on Speed Signs and once in a great while it will be running in a patrol car. Usually only when I am out of state. I am debating in my mind if it will be disabling that band as well. I have been places where the LEO just drive around that their RADAR running all the time. Its almost like they are saying here I am if your interested. Usually only in small towns though.

Ka band is where all the action is in my parts. Its what is being used by the bike cops with those RADAR pistols and in the Cruisers. Recently there has been a change in tactics by LE. Where as they used to use their pacing system to stalk and measure a suspected speeder's velocity, they now follow and hit them with instant on. The bad news is that if you were not paying attention and allow one to get in range and they paint you while your speeding, you are done. They are not all that stealthy though because as they work their way up from behind they tend to use their system to have a look at other cars. When they do you will pick up a short duration alarm. Often when they are still a mile or two back there. I can recall several times getting those little bursts every 15 to 60 seconds for like 5 or more minutes before the LEO passes. That method is especially popular with them at night.

I am getting a growing number of false alarms on the Ka band of recent. So I have placed my Escort in frequency counter mode. Over the last year, I have noted that there has never been a false alarm above 35.5Ghz. And all the false s have been below that frequency. 33-34Ghz seems to be where most of the false s are happening. I wish I could also lock out frequency ranges. If I get an alert on for example 35.760Ghz, its a LEO. What is interesting to note is If there is another alert on 35.530, its also an LEO but a different one. Makes me think they are channel selectable which totally makes sense to me.

LASER is the hardest of all. I have been alerted to LASER 3 times. All three times I was at or below the limit because it made sense to be there. (experience) I did notice that I would have been toast otherwise. I haven't had enough LASER experience to tell how effective my detector is at picking up on scatter off of other targets before it got to be my turn. Only one of those 3 I knew is was my turn, the others I am not so sure about. There are products out there which when mounted on the car have the ability to Jam LASER and the FCC allows them to operate unlike RADAR Jamming which they regulate against. However State laws may come into play prohibiting their use outright or with some obstruction of justice angle which may come down harder than a simple speeding ticket. Then there is the LASER absorbing coatings which can help some by making it necessary to be closer before a usable reflection can be received. If they paint you while your still to far away for the reflection to be usable to them you may have a few extra seconds to check your speed. But don't count on it as that would be a operational mistake on their part. I am sure they know where the kill zone is.

Sort of like spy vs spy out there.

RADAR detectors are not useless, but they are not the only ingredient in a ticket avoidance strategy. They are simply another tool which can be nice to have in the bag. Suggest making sure the speedometer is correct. Mine is on as I have GPS verified it.

 

[stangdude2000]

Does anyone else use the mobile phone application Trapster? For those unfamiliar with it, it is an app that allows you to report live speed traps and get alerted to others' reports as you approach the area. I use it every now and then, but NEVER rely on it. It has correctly alerted me a few times, but I don't think the user base is large enough yet to really rely on that alone, especially on more rural roads. I've had quite a few "misses" and I feel like it must be even worse at night.

 

[darien87]

I have not seen X-Band used for LE in ages. I have disabled it and my false alarms have gone down by 90 percent.

K band LE Radar is getting rare also. I see it mostly on Speed Signs and once in a great while it will be running in a patrol car. Usually only when I am out of state. I am debating in my mind if it will be disabling that band as well. I have been places where the LEO just drive around that their RADAR running all the time. Its almost like they are saying here I am if your interested. Usually only in small towns though.

Ka band is where all the action is in my parts. Its what is being used by the bike cops with those RADAR pistols and in the Cruisers. Recently there has been a change in tactics by LE. Where as they used to use their pacing system to stalk and measure a suspected speeder's velocity, they now follow and hit them with instant on. The bad news is that if you were not paying attention and allow one to get in range and they paint you while your speeding, you are done. They are not all that stealthy though because as they work their way up from behind they tend to use their system to have a look at other cars. When they do you will pick up a short duration alarm. Often when they are still a mile or two back there. I can recall several times getting those little bursts every 15 to 60 seconds for like 5 or more minutes before the LEO passes. That method is especially popular with them at night.

I am getting a growing number of false alarms on the Ka band of recent. So I have placed my Escort in frequency counter mode. Over the last year, I have noted that there has never been a false alarm above 35.5Ghz. And all the false s have been below that frequency. 33-34Ghz seems to be where most of the false s are happening. I wish I could also lock out frequency ranges. If I get an alert on for example 35.760Ghz, its a LEO. What is interesting to note is If there is another alert on 35.530, its also an LEO but a different one. Makes me think they are channel selectable which totally makes sense to me.

LASER is the hardest of all. I have been alerted to LASER 3 times. All three times I was at or below the limit because it made sense to be there. (experience) I did notice that I would have been toast otherwise. I haven't had enough LASER experience to tell how effective my detector is at picking up on scatter off of other targets before it got to be my turn. Only one of those 3 I knew is was my turn, the others I am not so sure about. There are products out there which when mounted on the car have the ability to Jam LASER and the FCC allows them to operate unlike RADAR Jamming which they regulate against. However State laws may come into play prohibiting their use outright or with some obstruction of justice angle which may come down harder than a simple speeding ticket. Then there is the LASER absorbing coatings which can help some by making it necessary to be closer before a usable reflection can be received. If they paint you while your still to far away for the reflection to be usable to them you may have a few extra seconds to check your speed. But don't count on it as that would be a operational mistake on their part. I am sure they know where the kill zone is.

Sort of like spy vs spy out there.

RADAR detectors are not useless, but they are not the only ingredient in a ticket avoidance strategy. They are simply another tool which can be nice to have in the bag. Suggest making sure the speedometer is correct. Mine is on as I have GPS verified it.

Lots of good info there. Thanks dude. I will definitely be picking up a detector in the next month or so. Money's pretty tight right now though.

 

[clentonz]

Awesome and very informational posts/thread, appreciate it guys n' gals


**A little tip that is pretty obvious, but....Most effective for night time highway driving, but I do it all the time(just depends on how good your eyes are I guess). I just watch the brake lights of other drivers... For example, I'm driving down the highway and at the bottom of a hill, I just look at the cars just passing over the top crest of the hill and see if their brake lights go on. Obviously if its just one/two cars braking, its just normal driving, but when you see a whole pack or 'segments' of cars braking (around corners, hills, wherever LE would be hiding)...imo, gives me the idea that they just saw someone they didn't want to see