POLL : how many of you have radar detectors if not why ?

I have one and it saved me again today on my way back from work in ct .. i was on i95 coming to NJ going a good 75 in the extreme rt lane and there were 2 e46's in the extreme left lane doing the same speed ... my radar goes green (KA BAND) i hit the brakes anmd trhese 2 e46's fly past me and sure enuff right around the corner were 2 state troopers and they pulled over the 2 e46's... Y not get a radar detector and save / try toi save yr self a ticket or 2 ... even if it saves u one ticket it has paid for it self .. even more
sorry for the rant

Not me.

I've used detectors for years have have owned many. And, yes, they've saved me over the years too. But I no longer use one.

Why? Because I got utterly sick of the damn thing beeping all of them time. Everytime you go past a grocery store or, in the DC area, under an overpass (the master traffic computer uses X band to assess the speed of traffic on the highway in order to detect problems and either send help or retime traffic lights).

So I got good at detecting police using my eyes and other clues. I read "The Speeder's Guide to Avoiding Tickets" written by a NY State Trooper. And I'm good at talking my way out of tickets once pulled over. If I told you all of the tickets I got out of, you truly would think I was lying/exaggerating.

Also, I do a lot of driving in Virginia and DC, the two jurisdictions in the country that outlaw detectors and the anxiety of driving in these places with a detector got a bit old.

I don't have one. I don't speed. Whenever in traffic I make sure that the other cars are still passing me. On the highway when there are posted speed linits of 55, I still do 70 in the right lane. The cars in the left lane are still passing me so why should I worry? We don't need no radar detectors!

Andy where in CT do you work? Do you live in CT too? I'm from Trumbull FYI

I don't have a radar detector because I am always lucky. I mean really lucky.


Danny

i was there in fairfield today ... i am a project manager for a company in the city and a client in fairfield was having some issues so i had to go up there

Originally posted by dannyxi
I don't have a radar detector because I am always lucky. I mean really lucky.


Danny

I hear that. I seem to have a guardian angel when it comes to the cops. I'll be driving 80 all day, then a poke will pull out in front of me - just in time to slow me down for the cop hiding around the corner....

But even angels go on vacation...so when I got a radar detector as a gift, I was psyched. It was (I say was because it fried itself recently) a pretty elaborate model - all the bands, plus laser, etc, etc. Whistler made it. It detected alright - cell phone towers, tv towers, security systems, gas stations, tvs, microwaves, fast food joints, god knows what else - except cops!! Ok, ok...I can think of a couple of times in the 3 years I used it where it saved me from a ticket. But mostly it made a racket that bugged the &%##^ outta me.

But I should get another one....I wish I wasn't a lead foot...but I am. And with a BMW..it's all too easy to drive fast. I think ESCORT is the best...by Cincinnati Microwave...pricey, but they have the best filtering.

My .02

I don't have one because where I live they use nothing but laser 95% of the time

I have a V1, but I disabled X band. It is useless where I go.

I have the V1 also. Just got it this past Sept for the drive to Indy for the USGP. I've had others, the V1 is in a class by itself. You don't have to hear all the door openers if you don't want to.

Originally posted by andy 323i
I have one and it saved me again today on my way back from work in ct ..

I don't have one, don't need one (I don't ever drive so fast that I would need one) and radar detectors are ILLEGAL in Finland! The police even have an anti-radar gun that can detect if someone is using a radar detector ... and if they catch you, they confiscate the detector and give you a very large fine.

Patrick

V1, the smaller version, hardwired, absolutely love it.

The Austin police have been using LASER a lot though, so I've been driving only slightly above the limit.

--Andrew

Originally posted by TD
Not me.

So I got good at detecting police using my eyes and other clues. I read "The Speeder's Guide to Avoiding Tickets" written by a NY State Trooper. *snip*

Hmmm... we need a GB on this book! hehe!

--Andrew

I have the new V1. It's great. I dont know how many times it has saved me. Its in a class of its of its own.

-SilverBmw

Radar warners are illegal here in Germany too. But I'd like to test one anyway.

Alex

Instant on like any other detector out there what i found interesting was this produst.. anyone has one of those ?

http://radarjammers.com/jammers.htm


The jammers here

V-1! As pricey as it is, it's paid for itself multiple times.

They're illegal in VA and DC. Don't want an extra ticket trying to avoid the first one.

I attempt to drive somewhat near the speed limit. Granted, every now and again I tend to stray.

Originally posted by JPinTO


Radar Detectors are also illegal here in Ontario and many other Canadian Provinces. A decade ago, I lost my first detector after I was stalked by a cop with a Radar Detector Detector. The unit was seized and I got a ticket.... not a moving violation, but a vehicle violation (because it was attached to the vehicle).

I don't bother with one here either, but the current batch of high end detectors (BEL980, Passport & Valentine ) all implement some type of "shadow " technology that leaves them invisible to VG-2 and other Detector detectors. I don't bother using my BEL here, because Ontario has pretty much moved to Laser clocking where a detector doesn't help you at all.

Back when I was in college, my trip to school was almost entirely in Virginia (which even then had banned detectors). I used a BEL detector that had the "shadow" technology even back then. I put a baseball cap over it on the dash to hide it. It looked out through the semi-circular area on the back of the cap that's there to adjust it to fit your head.

And, yeah, it saved me many times.

But I still don't use one now. And I honestly haven't slowed down much. Luck and skill are my allies now.

Originally posted by TD

Luck and skill are my allies now.

100% luck for me. A skill in itself.

just got the 8500 a few months ago. however, i'm really not sure how many times it may have saved me or how effective it really is because everytime i hear an unusual beep from it, i slow down. i usually then look around, but i almost never see a cop, so they may be well hidden or on the other side of the freeway.

in fact, now that i think about it, there have been numerous times on the freeway when i am not really speeding and i drive by a cop parked on the side while my radar detector remains silent... could be because the cops don't have their radar on or have instant-on radar. either way, it's scary because my detector doesn't make a peep.

however, i do feel a little safer with a detector and if it saves me just once, it's worth it. you just have to realize that it isn't foolproof and a license to speed.

btw, does anyone here know what kinds of radar are most used in the bay area (approx percentage breakdown of k/ka/x/laser if possible)? thanks.

No detector for me, and I've never been stopped for speeding. I stay right about the speed limit wherever possible, and where not possible (on the freeway) I make sure there are plenty of people still passing me. It might sound boring, but I get my thrills on the mountain roads where the max speed is 55 but the turns limit [other] drivers to far less than that.

I had one in high school; it was a Uniden RD9XL, IIRC. At the time, it was rated one of the better mid-range detectors, not in the same league as the Passport but very good for the price (this was well before the Valentine One).

I found that the detector offered very little in the way of real protection. Even then, many police were using instant-on radar, and in most highway situations, the detector was not as good an indicator of police presence as the brake lights of the cars ahead. In daily driving, you learn to anticipate speed trap locations, so you don't really need the detector to tell you to be careful in those areas. Finally, there are so many spurious sources of radar that using the detector in an unfamiliar area is a crapshoot.

FWIW, shortly after getting the detector, I got pulled over 7 different times in two weeks (and it wasn't because I was going faster; my driving did not change significantly). My suspicion is that whether you are tagged or not depends a lot more on luck than it does on radar countermeasures.

Haven't owned one since.

I ordered a V1 this week.

I got a ticket for going 92 in a 50 zone on the highway (I91 north, in Hartford). It was 2am, and I was stupid. Unfortunately I was cruising at just over 100 and couldnt slow down fast enough once I saw the trooper. The ticket cost me way more than the V1, not to mention the insurance increase I am paying for now.

Speeding isn't something I should do, but I can't help it.. and I suspect when I get my new car, I'll be even worse.

I have never gotten a radar ticket with a detector in the car.

I have received two radar speeding tickets when I didn't have my detector in the car.

Today, I have an 8500 in my 330i, and in my wife's Volvo V70. I am taking NO chances!

They work amazingly well.