Does A Radar Detector Help Anymore?

[FLYARMY]

I am a big fan of using the WAZE App.

 

[Brad_TX2V]

I've been using an Escort 360 (I forget the exact model designation) for the past 5 years or so, have TWO of them, one for each daily, so I do think they are definitely worth it! They have saved my bacon multiple times! Google Maps has also been pretty good (like Waze) too. Using my eyes is definitely the best thing though. If I do get pulled over it's *usually* a warning. An LTC goes a loooooong way with the interactions I've had! And being polite always helps!

 

[1Evil55]

I've been using an Escort 360 (I forget the exact model designation) for the past 5 years or so, have TWO of them, one for each daily, so I do think they are definitely worth it! They have saved my bacon multiple times! Google Maps has also been pretty good (like Waze) too. Using my eyes is definitely the best thing though. If I do get pulled over it's *usually* a warning. An LTC goes a loooooong way with the interactions I've had! And being polite always helps!

I feel like that has been a get out of jail free pass. Not to the extreme where I've murdered and gotten away with it. Just the fact that I openly tell the LEO where it is before he asks, gives them a little confidence I'm not a total shit head criminal. My interactions with them since CCW began here has always been as pleasant as it could while being pulled over.

 

[Brad_TX2V]

I feel like that has been a get out of jail free pass. Not to the extreme where I've murdered and gotten away with it. Just the fact that I openly tell the LEO where it is before he asks, gives them a little confidence I'm not a total shit head criminal. My interactions with them since CCW began here has always been as pleasant as it could while being pulled over.

It does seem like it, for sure! I've been carrying since '96 or so - I can recall only receiving two citations since then with none on my record (deferred / probation etc). And I have been pulled over quite a few times! That was prior to the radar detector. I had one YEARS ago...then without one for a long time. Bought one - around 2009 - had a Pontiac GT G8, well, wife's car - got a prior Escort for a road trip - DFW to Bristol for the race. Just on the way there it saved me / gave me advance warning at least TWENTY times! The cops were lazy, most just had the radar on full time. Every now and then one would do instant on but I'd get a hit a mile or so out and back it down. Then all of the fancy radar / sensors on the cars came out and it proved that detector worthless. Then I bought the 360. Love it! I will say that for my Escalade V I had to program out the Laser function though - it constantly gets triggered by the Super Cruise laser sensor (at least that's what I've read / think it is).

 

[Speed Racer 007]

Anytime I go out for spirted driving I make sure the R/D is with me. My Escort Redline 360 has save my ass more times than I can remember. The live updates are priceless.

 

[SS_Shooter]

It's also important to see what your local statutes are in terms of 'speeding' vs. 'misdemeanor reckless driving'.

Here in Illinois, anything up to 24 MPH over the speed limit is just a speeding ticket. If you are 25+ MPH over the posted limit, in some cases, you may have to appear before a judge. They have given people things like community service for speeds of 100 MPH+ in the past.

 

[1Evil55]

It's also important to see what your local statutes are in terms of 'speeding' vs. 'misdemeanor reckless driving'.

Here in Illinois, anything up to 24 MPH over the speed limit is just a speeding ticket. If you are 25+ MPH over the posted limit, in some cases, you may have to appear before a judge. They have given people things like community service for speeds of 100 MPH+ in the past.

I went through something like that in the late 90's. Too many tickets in a single stop put me in drivers ed, again. The class was 8 hours saturday and sunday. The class wound up working out for me and a buddy who happened to be in class with me. It still snowed back then and ironically was all weekend. During lunch we did some killer donuts in the lot down the street from class. Young and dumb..

 

[blackeneth]

Radar detectors are still very useful. Police use radar in many different ways, and radar detectors are effective against many of them.

Here are a few scenarios for RADAR:
1) General enforcement -- the police here aren't really interested in catching the lone wolf super speeder, they just want to bring speeds down. So they are running constant radar on. All of the radar detector owners will drive by like a church choir on the way to rehearsal. This brings speed down for eveyone.

2) Measure a lot -- the police are trying to catch the lone wolf super speeder, but they use the radar a lot to check speeds. A radar detector owner can detect this radar usage from miles away and slow down. The police here aren't interested here in "normal speeding" (say, 9 mph over the limit), they're looking for something higher.

3) Already caught someone -- but their radar is still on. Radar detector owners can sense this from miles away.

4) The Enforcer™ -- this police officer delights in setting a trap for super speeders. Uses radar sparingly. Uses instant-on radar only when he sees a suitable target. This is the toughest to avoid, but if traffic volume is high enough, he will use his radar often enough that a radar detector owner can sense it from miles away. This is often the type of signal that one thinks, "I'm in the middle of nowhere, why am I getting a radar signal?" Well, a trap is up ahead. Some of them post YouTube videos.

5) Small Town Revenue -- the classic small town in the middle of nowhere, in which they get a lot of revenue issuing speeding tickets to drivers passing through. The highway drops from 60 mph, then to 45 mph, 35 mph, 25 mph through town. The way to avoid those tickets is to scrupulously follow those speed limits, even go a little under. Prior research for your journey can help identify the worst towns. Maintain the speed limit for a few miles outside of town. One advantage of the radar detector owner here is that small town police departments are often poorly funded, and hence, have older equipment -- often continuous radar units.

One scenario for VASCAR:
1) Tricky Police -- if you see a police car driving like a bat out of hell on the opposite side of the freeway, slow down to the speed limit. He's going to use a median turn-around and come up behind you. This is a VASCAR tactic. It could also just be a sneaky police radar tactic -- you think he's speeding for an emergency, but he's really just quickly putting on miles before he turns around and comes up behind you. I've observed this on the I-8 in California.

Scenario for LASER:
These are always fixed position speed traps. An officer on the side of the road is setup to shoot approaching cars with laser. If you're lucky, it's not you -- and your laser detector can sense laser light reflected from other cars. My laser detector would reliably do that, but I can't say Phoenix was running much laser at the time, so not many encounters.

Yet with laser we have the possibility of jamming. This is actually quite technically challenging to do in a sophisticated way. A non-sophisticated way would just be to light up your car with random laser light from laser diodes. The sophisticated approach -- detect the laser, then emit a high power jamming signal, is actually quite computationally challenging, as it has to be done quickly. This is why you see laser jammers using DSP chips to do it. But, it works. So the most serious threat can be neutered with a laser jammer.

Anecdotes from Radar Detector Driving:
I used Valentine One for about 30 years. These are my stories.
1) First Year Ownership -- I drove around with the Valentine One for a full year before I actually detected police radar. After that, I would detect them fairly frequently.

2) I did my own remote power install on my Pontiac Sunbird. Driving around -- great this works. Turn on my headlights. The radar detector loses power. Oops.

3) The main benefit of using a radar detector is using it consistently on your daily commute. You then learn where all of the false alarms are (modern detectors can filter these out, which is even better). Then, when an anomalous alert happens, you pay attention and slow down. I was once driving to work and was at the front a stoplight. I took off in my Pontiac Trans Am, quickly exceeding the speed limit, as did the car next to me. Then I got a short alert on my Valentine One. I've never had an alarm on that stretch of road. I slow down to the speed limit. I then spot a motorcycle cop way ahead on the side of the road. The car next to me keeps speeding. Once close to the motorcycle cop, he sends out a longer pulse of radar -- to get a good measurement of the speed of the car that was next to me (who is now ahead of me). I actually see the cop take the measurement, then flip his notebook closed as if to say, "Yep, got one," and then start up to pull over the other driver.

4) The Wolf Pack -- again on my daily commute, my exit off the freeway was close to where a new interchange to another freeway was being built. So the speed limit dropped to 45 mph as one approached my exit -- which happened to be over the side of a hill. One day, I'm speeding over the top of the hill and my radar detector lights up like a Christmas tree and screams like a banshee -- a wolf pack of eight police cars are there, shooting radar and pulling people over. I downshift and brake best I can to slow down, and take my exit. Another guy follows behind me into the exit, and he gets pulled over (he was closest). I get on to the surface street and there is another police car that has pulled over another driver. After that, I would scrupulously drive 45 mph while cresting that hill. Often, other drivers would pass me, no doubt thinking, "Why is that idiot in the Trans Am going so slow?" -- until, on occasion, they crested the hill and saw the police car waiting for them (then, all of a sudden, they would brake).

5) Alone At Night -- actually didn't have a radar detector on this occasion. I was driving late at night (say, 2 AM) on M-14 in Michigan from Ann Arbor towards Plymouth / the I-275 interchange. It's as black as a boot. Very few cars. I'm driving alone on a road. I obey the speed limit because I can't see anything. At one point, I put on my brights -- which illuminate a Michigan state trooper sitting in the median ditch completely dark, with all lights out, just waiting for someone to go screaming by. The lesson? If conditions are such that it makes you a sitting duck, you could be a sitting duck.

Anyhow, I just had a Uniden R9w installed in my CT5-V Blackwing (got it back today from the installer). Radar detectors and laser jammers still give you an edge -- but nothing is guaranteed.

 

[Sully]

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Anyhow, I just had a Uniden R9w installed in my CT5-V Blackwing (got it back today from the installer). Radar detectors and laser jammers still give you an edge -- but nothing is guaranteed.

Can you post some photos of your laser head placements? I have the ALP sitting in the box atm while I work up some head mounts, looking for other ideas.

 

[jimijuma]

Well I have a Valentine One ready to install once my Blackwing leaves the Black Hole of Michigan. I live in a rural area and small city cops are the worst in my experience. Way too much idle time, many of which are hopped up on a Robocop fantasy without terribly high IQs (I certainly back the blue, but this is a fact). I am not reckless, but if I can stay one step ahead of them it will be good for everybody.

 

[Sergio]

I use a Valentine 1, works well, is really good on road trips along with Waze. Back in the Stone Age the CB radio helped find old Smokey bear. Now it’s pretty much useless, not many trucks talk on it anymore.

 

[raneil86]

Are you 100% immune from getting popped? No. Does it reduce the risk? Yes. I run a Uniden R8 detector in conjunction with Waze and apply common sense as you described. Served me well so far.

Like several others here, I think this sums it up pretty well. Having a detector helps; nothing more. After driving with them for years, I feel inhibited without one. Like driving with one eye closed. More information is better. Keep your head on a swivel.

I'm surprised at the number of responses here that mention using Waze. I've never used it. The few times I've seen it used, it reminds me too much of a kid's cartoon playing on the phone. Hard to take it seriously. Don't wanna derail this thread, but would love to hear more from those of you actually using it to avoid tickets.

 

[Sergio]

The way I use Waze is to know where to slow down even if my radar is not alerting. Waze will say “Police reported ahead.” It gives a distance (a half mile?) and starts counting down til you reach the location of the report. Sometimes there will be multiple reports of police within a couple miles of each other. What this means is that one police car is working that part of the road, usually. The reports will have a timestamp so you can see where the police were and when. Looking at this info is mostly the job of the passenger, because it’s very distracting to get timestamps of reports.

One other thing that Waze does pretty well is to alert for road hazards, tire treads, and any other crap in the road. It will also say if there’s a vehicle stopped on the side of the road. The Waze menu allows to toggle on or off these warnings.

On the police reports, it doesn’t say if the police are moving or stationary. So it happens that there aren’t any police where the report says if the police were moving.

Another thing is if there aren’t any people on the road, there will be few reports since the users make the reports to Waze. In high traffic areas there’s lots of reports of every type. In West Texas or a backroad two lane highway, with little traffic, there much less or none.

One more thing is, anyone can delete a police report, or any report. Police can monitor Waze and turn off a report by clicking the “Not there” button on the report.

 

[quikag]

Waze and V1 for me. I have like 6 V1's (3 gen 2) in my cars so I don't have to swap them back and forth.

It's not infallible, but valuable information for me when picking through traffic at higher rates of speed.

 

[CBH]

I am not a Waze user either, but it does seem to be fully responsible for creating distracted drivers.

People have to use the app on their phone to report these things, right ?

How many do you think pull over to make such a report ?

 

[dizz81]

The way I use Waze is to know where to slow down even if my radar is not alerting. Waze will say “Police reported ahead.” It gives a distance (a half mile?) and starts counting down til you reach the location of the report. Sometimes there will be multiple reports of police within a couple miles of each other. What this means is that one police car is working that part of the road, usually. The reports will have a timestamp so you can see where the police were and when. Looking at this info is mostly the job of the passenger, because it’s very distracting to get timestamps of reports.

One other thing that Waze does pretty well is to alert for road hazards, tire treads, and any other crap in the road. It will also say if there’s a vehicle stopped on the side of the road. The Waze menu allows to toggle on or off these warnings.

On the police reports, it doesn’t say if the police are moving or stationary. So it happens that there aren’t any police where the report says if the police were moving.

Another thing is if there aren’t any people on the road, there will be few reports since the users make the reports to Waze. In high traffic areas there’s lots of reports of every type. In West Texas or a backroad two lane highway, with little traffic, there much less or none.

One more thing is, anyone can delete a police report, or any report. Police can monitor Waze and turn off a report by clicking the “Not there” button on the report.

yeah I find myself hitting the "Not There" button a lot on my trips. It seems like people are reporting police that aren't there or they see that they've been flagged and move to another spot but I'm definitely seeing that half the time there aren't any police where people are reporting them.

 

[bloominguez]

I am not a Waze user either, but it does seem to be fully responsible for creating distracted drivers.

People have to use the app on their phone to report these things, right ?

How many do you think pull over to make such a report ?

That's not my experience. Waze makes it very easy to report things. Give it a try and see for yourself. And the hard core Waze users that I know are not even remotely close to the stereotypical distracted driver. They take their driving seriously and could probably report a cop in the app by muscle memory at this point.

 

[1Evil55]

I am not a Waze user either, but it does seem to be fully responsible for creating distracted drivers.

People have to use the app on their phone to report these things, right ?

How many do you think pull over to make such a report ?

I find it just as much a pain in my ass to change radio stations. Same difference looking at a touch screen on the dash or touch screen on my phone.

 

[RDATLTE]

Re Waze, years ago, when I first heard about it, I didn't and up downloading it since it tracked you full time not just while using the app. Has that changed?

 

[DCV]

Police radar is really crude, easy to jam with wideband noise. Noise diode, band pass filter, amplifier, some cabling and antenna, front and rear. Triggered by the alarm from your radar detector.