Are radar detectors still a thing?

sergio wrote: I use my Valentine 1 everyday. Kinda miss my CB for long trips. Great for Smokey reports and traffic/accidents. Sometimes you can listen to some interesting conversations on it too.

this ... the big advantage with V1 is it A) tells you how many Po-Po's, B) whether they're ahead of you or behind you, and C) I totally agree with you ... laser detection isn't going to do much for us ...

to me the biggest advantage is don't have to rely on Waze where folk have to text the info into the app ... WHILE they're driving ... plus all that can really tell you is the location of a stationary speed zone ... if it's a moving radar, you still have to rely on someone posting the location ... WHILE they're driving

whereas a detector will show you the increase strength of signal as you close on each other

Driven all over the country the past two years in the Z06. Had the V1 on the windshield the entire time. It's paid for itself multiple times thanks to rural Michigan State Police and Ohio who seems to have more Highway Patrolmen than they do college graduates...

I put the car into storage and left it in the Blazer as I drove across the city this weekend. Realized how useless it is in a car that barely does 75..

V1 with the Traffic Monitor Filter enabled to reduce false positives from lane departure systems and radar cruise control. Have a lot less issues now that I switched that on.

Waze is a great companion, but I'm looking at the Bluetooth link V1 makes as well. Not sure how I will wire it up at present, which is why I haven't pulled the trigger. I have the V1 getting power directly from the rear view mirror.

I have an Escort stealth installed on my IS-F. A gift from the PO. I used it for awhile when I first bought the car, but my short drives and traffic eliminate the actual need for it. If I go on a long road trip, I would turn it on but for day to day I don't drive that far or that fast.

V1 here, I have it programmed to only go off for Ka band and laser only. I never get false alarms.

I have one but don't use it anymore. Just seem to know where all the cops sit on my commute.

Beltronics with an update from Escort......picks up laser while parked in front of my garage , CVS/Walgrens play hell with (wink) it, but other than that, run it all the time. Any of y'all that run one have peeps pull in behind while haulin' a$$? 

Rented a new suburban last year. Had most of the speed limits programmed into it and displayed on the dash. Information must have come from mapping services, because sometimes it had no clue, especially in remote rural areas. Maybe this is part of the evolution of data for driverless cars?

I have one in the T&C for highway travels, and it definitely helps. I disabled KA band alerts, which eliminated triggers by alarm systems & other cars, but there are still small municipalities that only use KA. 

The detector coupled with Waze makes a huge difference. 

My V1 is now way outdated.  I would buy a new one if I needed it.  However, on the "laser detection is useless" theme, I'll disagree.  When I had the Esprit (RIP), I had a V1 mounted up next to the rear view mirror.  It went in the fire.  I mean, it was: grab my gun and briefcase, or waste more time grabbing the V1, CD's, etc., as the thing was getting ready to blow.  Anyway, one day on the drive to work, I turned onto the main street and nailed it.  V1 Laser went off in ZOMG mode.  I let off before I hit the ticket zone of 50MPH, so he couldn't do anything.  I never did see him.  Must have been a bike stashed in a parking lot or behind some bushes.  Had he waited another second before pulling the trigger, I'd been had.

In reply to rslifkin :

I guess it must be the east coast then.  I have driven to Fla, SC, De, etc. North towards Canada several times.

I find they make the driver paranoid.   Once I was riding with a friend on a trip to NH .   Every time the detector went off, he would slow down and start looking around.  He was not speeding.   Same thing following my son in law fom West Palm to Myrtle Beach.  We were traveling at a safe speed.

Detectors aside, I have found a condition that driving at the speed limit can be the way to go

I-87 Northway, 3 lane from Lake George to Saratoga on a Sunday night.   I get in the right lane and cruise a 65+.   No having to watch my mirrors and trying to judge closing speeds and is it safe to change lanes.  This seems to be the time when two lanes are crowded with everyone in a hurry.   Last Sunday I never passed a car.   

Any other time I drive 75.

I haven't had a ticket since I stopped speeding.

Just sayin' (grin)

codrus said:

Zeitgeist wrote: Lidar\laser however requires a jammer for any real safety otherwise any laser alarm is just a false from another car safety system or you are about to be pulled over if you were speeding alert.

That depends on how good the officer using the lidar gun is. AIUI, the usual training is to aim for the front license plate because they're extremely reflective. If a car doesn't have a front plate then the useful range of the lidar system drops a lot, but if the officer doesn't adjust the range at which he engages then it leaves a small window to react.

I think they just make up the speed they clocked you at via RADAR or laser.  They do me lots of 'favors,' by writing it just shy of being a bigger hassle for them.  I keep a prepaid legal subscription and just send the lawyers every few years when I get popped.  It's becoming a lot less frequent with all the profiling they do these days.  I don't drive any different, but I no longer look like a young punk that needs a lesson in authori-tay.

Dr. Hess said:

 And, with many new vehicles and 18 wheelers using CAS, the false alerts have gone way up over previous years.

Wow...  First you have hausfraus driving faux military vehicles, now they can get close air support?

I run a V1 with the yaV1 app in the SHO.  For freeway trips, I add in Waze.  IMO, the V1 is unusable without the app, it falses so much you'd either just tune it out or turn it off.  In the parking lot of my local Home Depot, I get 8 separate alerts from all the door openers in the local stores.  yaV1 allows me to turn off bands easily, do GPS muting, and a bunch of other stuff, but you do need the separate Bluetooth dongle and an Android phone.  

If I were buying new now, I'd probably get a Uniden R3.  That seems to be the new hotness.

Grtechguy said:

I just keep a rabbit in front of me by about 1/2 mile

This has worked for me for the past 20 years.  That, and slow down coming up over hills.  Also it is okay to speed right past an officer as long as someone from out of state is driving somewhat the same speed as you - out of state cars get pulled over with much greater frequency.

codrus said:

Robbie wrote: Just drive a camry or a minivan. Beige. You will save money in tickets.

I owned a B6 S4 Avant for 8 years (in Nogaro Blue, no less) and never once got pulled over in it, and that certainly wasn't true of the Nogaro Blue B5 S4 sedan I owned before it. So it seems that there's some truth to the "wagon body" idea. :)

I've owned 2 wagons.  The Subaru lived with its throttle bolted to the floor and I drove 80+ everywhere and I never once got a ticket.  Even once while I blew past an officer in a 50mph-designated construction zone.  (I think he assumed he was seeing things)  The other wagon was even more scrody and it lived with its throttle bolted to the floor, too.  I got one speeding ticket in it, 70mph in a 60 during a blizzard.

I don't recall ever seeing a station wagon pulled over, come to think of it.

My Volvo 850T wagon got pulled over for a "performance evaluation".

iceracer said:

In reply to rslifkin :

I guess it must be the east coast then.  I have driven to Fla, SC, De, etc. North towards Canada several times.

I would say DEL through CT, with possibly RI and MASS thrown in for good measure. MD cops seem on the ball to pull people over and I see more of them than anywhere else north of there

I use an on board (i.e. installed) Escort (laser+Radar) in the Solstice and have a valentine 'floater' to use in the other cars (spends most of the time in the BMW).

Vermont is one state you don't have to worry about.   You can't speed even if you want to.  All of the good citizens drive at exactly the speed limit.   The one interstate is a little better, at least most drive 65.   I find 70 is safe.

Dr. Hess said:

My V1 is now way outdated.  I would buy a new one if I needed it.  However, on the "laser detection is useless" theme, I'll disagree.  When I had the Esprit (RIP), I had a V1 mounted up next to the rear view mirror.  It went in the fire.  I mean, it was: grab my gun and briefcase, or waste more time grabbing the V1, CD's, etc., as the thing was getting ready to blow.  Anyway, one day on the drive to work, I turned onto the main street and nailed it.  V1 Laser went off in ZOMG mode.  I let off before I hit the ticket zone of 50MPH, so he couldn't do anything.  I never did see him.  Must have been a bike stashed in a parking lot or behind some bushes.  Had he waited another second before pulling the trigger, I'd been had.

[Clemenza] Leave the gun.  Take the detector.  [/Clemenza]

I wish that some one would make a device that you could put on your dash as a HUD with 1" tall green LED numbers that would display the speed limit and your current speed. It would warn you when you are over the current speed limit by beeping or flashing the display in red. It would also beep and flash in yellow an upcomming speed limit change.

Would this device also beep and flash incessantly if you enter the leftmost lane while using such a device? If so, i am all for everyone who wants one having one.  

Perhaps detectors are the cause of brake lights going on for no apparent reason. 

Sot of like the people that brake at every intersection even when there are no other cars in sight.