Does A Radar Detector Help Anymore?

[CA139]

I have seen the radar detector thread so some drivers are obviously using them. I used to use one many years ago but stopped. While am a certified, card carrying leadfoot have managed to avoid tickets by driving smart with situational awareness, recognizing potential ambush spots (curves, hilltops, knowledge of bridges or official use only lanes), never going very fast when alone and using traffic either looking for brake lights ahead or following other fast drivers in front of me to act as shields. I have kept a clean record this way. Keeping in the proper high speed lane (the right!) also helps partly because nobody is in it because everyone thinks its the slow lane and also because the cops have their setup to usually clock the left lane, not always but usually this is the case. Also having non flashy looking cars is always a boon to avoiding attention.

My understanding is that cops now use instant on radar or laser, or they have mobile units in undercover cars that are always some kind of domestic. We know what those are so I can recognize the headlights or tail lights or silhouette from far away of a Durango or Explorer and adjust driving as they or I approach. Explorer tail lights in particular look squinty and evil like the Crown Vic headlights used to look! In these cases radar detector isn't useful until its too late so I haven't really thought to get one in the last decade and have stayed trouble free without.

Am asking this question to other users of radar detectors as keeping the speed limit aside from very bad weather is not an option for me but I want to keep avoiding tickets. Am I missing anything without one ? How have you found a radar detector actually helped you detect enforcement patrols from far away or does it just chirp endlessly? What has your radar detector experience been, would you recommend one to a reprobate, inveterate speeder?

 

[rubberduck]

I could spend hours replying to this. But recommend looking at some videos or reading on the Vortex Radar sites.

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[rdollie]

Mark 1 + Waze work well for me.

 

[Savethemanuals]

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.

 

[Champale]

This is going to sound like me being a jerk but I'm not trying to: if you can't see the benfit of a radar, you must not live in an area with much traffic enforcement or you don't actually drive fast enough for it to matter. Also, driving fast in the right lane is a very curious decision. Perhaps that's a regional thing.

I have basic Uniden R3s in 3 of my cars and a 10 year old Escort 360 Max thing in my other. I have driven cross country multiple times with the Unidens, hitting gigantic speeds many times a day out west. The detectors save my bacon several times a week just commuting or when I am able to make it out to fun backroads. The range of the Unidens is very impressive and they will start chirping a mile or more before the officer is visible.

Laser is used occasionally here in Texas by some major cities but the detectors will usually pick up on the splatter from it being shot at cars ahead, giving you a little warning.

Oh, and yes, you can still get a ticket with a detector, such as the time I flew past an offcer merging onto the freeway who turned on his radar right as I passed him. No big deal - it's the cost of doing business to me.

 

[sonny200]

In the areas I frequently traverse in North Carolina, my V1 Gen 2 has saved my bacon so many times I cannot count. Very, very few law enforcement around here use laser or even instant on. I guess they get enough speeders with unmarked vehicles &/or speed traps as it is. I am very thankful the V1 picks up stray radar up to 2 miles away in some cases.

 

[BimmerFan]

I found that the radar detector gave me a false sense of security. After being popped via instant on, I just quit using them.

 

[dizz81]

Yeah here in SOCAL, every time I see a cop he has his speed gun up to his face. I see about 3 to 4 cops a day (150 mile/4hr work drive), mostly bike cops. I can't imagine a radar detector would do anything here.

It was the same in Hawaii oddly enough. All bike cops and they always had their speed guns up to their eyes.

 

[Roadhawk]

I've never owned or used a radar detector though have seriously considered doing so numerous times....even spending time on the Vortex site researching in times past. Can't really say why but I can certainly see how they may have prevented a few tickets....and I often do drive quickly. It also does suck living in Virginia.

I find Waze a great help and also employ observance tactics as described by others previously (as I am the Roadhawk!). That being said I'm entirely ticket free for 15+ years and counting. I do tend to do less triple digit+ long runs like I used to though....I imagine thats helped a bit...

I'm not really entirely up on the enforcement landscape but generally do think a detector is probably a prudent thing to own for proactive drivers as I suspect many of us are on here.

 

[Champale]

Yeah here in SOCAL, every time I see a cop he has his speed gun up to his face. I see about 3 to 4 cops a day (150 mile/4hr work drive), mostly bike cops. I can't imagine a radar detector would do anything here.

It was the same in Hawaii oddly enough. All bike cops and they always had their speed guns up to their eyes.

I am in LA several times/year and my detectors have helped me many times. As for the instant on, normally you are not the first guy they are pointing at so your detector should have been alerting you when the officer was radaring the other cars in front of you. These modern detectors are incredible, even the fairly basic ones.

 

[CBH]

I drive fast, but I have admittedly been lucky.

Long ago I used radar detectors, but they usually just confirmed that I had just been nabbed. I gave up on them a very long time ago.

Here in Austin, the local PD had quite a run on me for years. The trick there was to take the case to a jury trial. Strangely, at that time, they would assemble an entire courtroom full of people, to try but a single person. They consistently dismissed 5 or every 6 of the remaining cases. I used this tactic to avoid probably a dozen tickets. Then, sadly, they wised up and quit doing this. Thankfully I have been lucky since then.

I used to routinely drive to Houston and other parts of Texas, and those were my consistent source for speeding tickets. Again, thankfully I rarely make those type of road trips any more. Texas DPS (state troopers) are merciless. Locals will give warnings pretty often, but I've only gotten one warning from DPS in my entire life.

On my motorcycles, I rarely ride on major highways, so the thread of law enforcement is significantly decreased.

Like many others, including OP, I keep my eyes peeled for the long arm of the law. I really believe it makes you a better driver with that constant hyper awareness.

I've gotten my last 3 speeding tickets on my bikes. Bandera county picks on motorcycles, forcing you to take a full blown Motorcycle Safety Course ($400 and an entire weekend of classes) instead of regular ol defensive driving ($25 and half a day on your computer/phone). Thus I just outright paid them, so those 2 are all that's currently on my record.

Good luck everyone !!

 

[Roadhawk]

Around 30 years ago I had a friend who ended up spending 6 months in jail (and losing his license for years) strictly on speeding tickets (judge commented on rolling out the scroll when he sentenced him).

He would warn anyone riding with him that he wouldn't stop for cops. I was never in a chase with him...but his procedure (in his 1974 bright yellow 911 with a 1984 bored out and balanced engine) where he lived on the top of a hill in a small town - was for us to push the car, jump in and roll down the hill before starting (the very loud) car. Often the cops were just waiting for him and the chase was on....good times...

 

[rubberduck]

If you’re going 120mph every time you hit the highway you will get caught. That’s not what radar detectors are for. Save your money for the judge.

 

[coffee_time]

I drive fast, but I have admittedly been lucky.

Long ago I used radar detectors, but they usually just confirmed that I had just been nabbed. I gave up on them a very long time ago.

Here in Austin, the local PD had quite a run on me for years. The trick there was to take the case to a jury trial. Strangely, at that time, they would assemble an entire courtroom full of people, to try but a single person. They consistently dismissed 5 or every 6 of the remaining cases. I used this tactic to avoid probably a dozen tickets. Then, sadly, they wised up and quit doing this. Thankfully I have been lucky since then.

I used to routinely drive to Houston and other parts of Texas, and those were my consistent source for speeding tickets. Again, thankfully I rarely make those type of road trips any more. Texas DPS (state troopers) are merciless. Locals will give warnings pretty often, but I've only gotten one warning from DPS in my entire life.

On my motorcycles, I rarely ride on major highways, so the thread of law enforcement is significantly decreased.

Like many others, including OP, I keep my eyes peeled for the long arm of the law. I really believe it makes you a better driver with that constant hyper awareness.

I've gotten my last 3 speeding tickets on my bikes. Bandera county picks on motorcycles, forcing you to take a full blown Motorcycle Safety Course ($400 and an entire weekend of classes) instead of regular ol defensive driving ($25 and half a day on your computer/phone). Thus I just outright paid them, so those 2 are all that's currently on my record.

Good luck everyone !!

I was on my motorcycle in Austin and got popped by a motorcycle cop (APD) for doing 72 in a 65. I was so fucking mad.

 

[dizz81]

I am in LA several times/year and my detectors have helped me many times. As for the instant on, normally you are not the first guy they are pointing at so your detector should have been alerting you when the officer was radaring the other cars in front of you. These modern detectors are incredible, even the fairly basic ones.

Oh I don't doubt that modern radar detectors provide some sort of safety. But modern speed guns don't just point at one singular vehicle either. It would be up to the cop to decide who gets the ticket if you're in a pack of people all going over the speed limit.

I'm on the 15 north and south daily. I've seen cops sit there and let people go by doing 80 (70 limit). I've also seen them come out and snag someone doing 75.

I guess it's just how the cop feels that day and who's day he/she wants to ruin lol.

I've had a detector in every car I've owned going back to 2002. I honestly haven't bought a new one since 2018. I rely on Waze and common sense watching traffic up ahead to see if people are randomly slamming on their brakes lol.

 

[Roadhawk]

But modern speed guns don't just point at one singular vehicle either. It would be up to the cop to decide who gets the ticket if you're in a pack of people all going over the speed limit.

I've experienced this at least 3 times. Once it should have been me and the cop motioned over another driver (that I was overtaking). I thought I was cooked. Another time the reverse and I wasn't able to convince either the cop or the judge that he got the wrong driver. A third time I rightly made my case to the officer and she apologized and let me go as she acknowledged the other car was beside me and I was mad as hell and very convincing that it was they and not me.

I also once had a very funny incident where I was moving along quite quickly (with a bit of lane weaving to boot) and saw an unmarked cop speed down an on ramp and start to pursue me in some heavy traffic. I felt he didn't have my speed but could tell I was moving quickly so I slowed to just 5 over and kept it there. He followed me for perhaps 10 miles staying back and then finally pulled me over. He was so mad and started yelling at me and I denied speeding at all. He said one of the reasons they patrol is for presence and that folks should slow down when they're seen. Well I said he was unmarked and I had no idea he was even behind me at all (lol)...he yelled at me some more and stomped off without even giving me a warning, My wife was in the car with me and I was giving her a play by play the whole time he was following me (trying to remain hidden) and I never sped up. After, we had great fun repeating his words and intonation which were funny and memorable to us at the time though I can't recall exactly what he said anymore. (It was quite a few years back).

 

[CA139]

This is going to sound like me being a jerk but I'm not trying to: if you can't see the benfit of a radar, you must not live in an area with much traffic enforcement or you don't actually drive fast enough for it to matter. Also, driving fast in the right lane is a very curious decision. Perhaps that's a regional thing.

I have basic Uniden R3s in 3 of my cars and a 10 year old Escort 360 Max thing in my other. I have driven cross country multiple times with the Unidens, hitting gigantic speeds many times a day out west. The detectors save my bacon several times a week just commuting or when I am able to make it out to fun backroads. The range of the Unidens is very impressive and they will start chirping a mile or more before the officer is visible.

Laser is used occasionally here in Texas by some major cities but the detectors will usually pick up on the splatter from it being shot at cars ahead, giving you a little warning.

Oh, and yes, you can still get a ticket with a detector, such as the time I flew past an offcer merging onto the freeway who turned on his radar right as I passed him. No big deal - it's the cost of doing business to me.

Without giving too much info I live in the rust belt. Enforcement until lately has been almost nil. Cops are more worried about fentanyl and certain trademark cars the dealers have which is a short list, mostly hi performance mopar and riced out fart can specials. Lately they are definitely pulling over way more cars since the late fall for the first time in many years. Not terribly out in force but you see them more than you used to.

I am a reprobate speeder and know how to get away with it but I don't drive over 100 for very long stretches but I like being just below that. I know about ambush points and how to get other speeders to go fast ahead of me. My experience with radar detector was they are more useful on local roads where town PD's use X and K band which stay on, but highway patrols use instant on or laser in that if the radar goes off its basically a "YOU GOT BUSTED" indicator. I stopped using a radar detector many years ago because of this. If anything things seem to have gone more in this direction not less.

What I really wanted was Target Blu Eye. It was a product that detected the European Union emergency radio trunking. As of 10 years ago anyway all emergency vehicles had a certain transmitter by EU law: police, rescue and fire as well as all emergency stations like police, fire and hospital Emergency Rooms.

Now this detector had a 1000 meter range or say 5/8 of a mile. That is far. If it went off it meant there was some kind of emergency vehicle within that distance, not necessarily a police car but any emergency vehicle. However, if the detector was silent, you were guaranteed that there would be no emergency vehicles within 1000m. Now since ALL police cars had this frequency, if the detector wasn't ringing that meant you were guaranteed not to be close to any law enforcement and provided it stayed silent you could make up your own traffic laws with impunity (assuming no speed cameras) until such a time that it did ring to give you advanced warning to follow the laws exactly as written.

Unfortunately in 2015 they gave up because United States trunking was much more complicated and fractionated, changing from not only state to state but town to town and could not have any reliable frequency that was usable in reliable detection.

 

[bl4ck_wng]

I have run radar in every car since I started driving. I absolutely swear by them in NJ/NY. The pace of traffic here is often well above posted speed limits, so you have to run some sort of tech to protect yourself.

Usually the cruisers camp on the side of the highway with the radar systems left turned on, blasting away. I get the alert up to a half-mile out sometimes (escort max 360 -- hard wired to rearview mirror). It has saved my ass more times than I wish to admit, and only drives my passengers mildly insane. Around town, there is a slightly smaller alert radius, and tons of false signals. Be weary of instant on laser tech, you can do nothing to dodge those unless you want to enter the topic of jamming/beam interference/diffraction. That is not legal here.

My dad says "If it saves you once, it has paid for itself." He's been running radar detectors since the Superbuster and Superfox days back in the 70s. He specialized in traffic law and all trucking litigation for 45 years -- this dude knows his stuff about the roads. If he runs them, I run them too.

 

[Sully]

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.

This. The combination of the two and general awareness, e.g. try not to always been the rabbit. This past weekend I went over to Miami across 75, Alligator Alley, which is a long straight shot. My R8 started it's KA alert ramp-up about 3.5-4 miles from State trooper in the center. Very shortly after, Waze had the police pop-up. Between the two, perfect awareness. Very easy to go very fast on the Alley when clear.

 

[KatyTxCT5V]

This. The combination of the two and general awareness, e.g. try not to always been the rabbit. This past weekend I went over to Miami across 75, Alligator Alley, which is a long straight shot. My R8 started it's KA alert ramp-up about 3.5-4 miles from State trooper in the center. Very shortly after, Waze had the police pop-up. Between the two, perfect awareness. Very easy to go very fast on the Alley when clear.

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Totally agree with both posts. I use my Escort 360C MKII & Waze plus staying alert anytime I decide to be above the speed limit. Has worked very well for me in the areas I drive. BTW @Sully, I didn't know you could get the "drone view" camera option on the 23's, I thought it stopped with the 22's