Thread: Radar

Originally posted by Euclid
they don't help when you get a complete B.S. ticket like "exhibition of speed" (supposedly i accelerated too quickly) like i did about an hour ago.

That sucks big time. Somebody should teach the cops some basic physics. Acceleration is not the same as speed, so how can quick acceleration exhibit speed. You would have to be doing it over a period of time. Duh...! v = u + at.


Rob

Yeah my friend just got something along those "exhibition of speed" lines. His wasn't really acceleration though, but a spin of the tires.

I think the signs at the VA state line should have a picture of a state trooper gunning radar. It's more realistic than our state seal! I remember over the summer I went to NC for a weekend and didn't see 1 cop, there was a car parked at a bank, but it was only a decoy car. As soon as I cross the VA border going home, no more than 5 miles into the state, there's a state trooper sitting on the shoulder up under an overpass so that you can't see him until you are rounding the corner. And lets not even go into how many unmarked vehicles they have and are getting. The bottom line is they are sneaky, but it must be like hunting for the cops... setting up in the bush, hidden and waiting for a victim to come by . I just don't think speed traps are right, especially in the times when someone who is going with the flow of traffic gets pulled over and the ***hole who just went by at 80+ MPH gets away with it. But I guess the system will never be perfect.

Now I just try to keep up with traffic and not go anymore than 5 over the limit, seems to be working since I got my last ticket.

BTW Rob, I would love to see someone try explaining that to the officer! "Sir you are incorrect, basic physics defines acceleration as..." Good call!

Dont know if you guys missed Gutter's post, but: http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleid=1026 has good reviews on radar detectors. I hear from many Valentine owners that it is a waste of money. My boss had one and was constantly going off. On my job interview the thing was going so crazy that he ripped it off his dash and threw it in the back...I was a tad scared at that point.

I personally have the Pasport 8500 and it does the job quite well. Ive had it for 2 years now with no problems that I didnt cause myself.

I live near NYC.. on a rather foolish trip to visit an ex-girlfriend in NC I got pulled over in VA for doing 10 miles over (where the limit drops from 75 to 65) the officer told me to watch out because they had cops crawling all over the place and if i pushed the limit I'd probably get another ticket.

Yep, crawling describes it perfectly! What part of VA was this in? I didn't think VA had any 75 MPH limits.... maybe you meant 65-55 and you were doing 75 But yeah, I try to keep it at no more than 5 over, and anyone visiting should maintain that habit because the only thing they like more than pulling us over is pulling anyone with out of state tags!
Also, if you are going to speed, watch your mirrors, keep with the flow of traffic, make smooth controlled lane changes, not weaving in and out like some of those folks out there (and always signal), and watch the big rigs, if you see them hitting the brakes for no apparent reason (like no immediate traffic in front of them) then that's usually a good hint that someone has passed a cop and has let everyone know on the CB!
Oh yeah and invest in a CB Radio I don't have one, but if you do a lot of interstate driving it can be very handy, more accurate than a radar detector (most people describe where the cop is sitting and even give mile marker numbers) with the least false alarms (there are a few who'll make stuff up) Just leave it on channel 19.

But like you said most of the time they are sitting right where the limit drops so be extra cautious in the immediate area of speed drops, and they like to sit in the "authorized vehicle only" turn arounds as well as wide median strips too.

These are just a few things I have learned, personally or from my dad who is a truck driver... oh and my ticket, I was going home, already in my neighborhood after school and the cop was behind some bushes and trees at the neighborhood pool where the road goes downhill and would have you rolling at 25 from a dead stop... I was going 42 according to him, I say it was closer to 37, but either way I was speeding. Luckily driving school got me cleared of it and now I take another route home

I have a Radar and laser detector from like the late 80's. Detects K and Ka bands. Gets the job done. Its saved me from a few tickets. The only thing that makes me mad, is grocery stores are along the route I take to work, and it goes off the whole time because of the auto doors.

Any of these have computer connectivity?
I’m seeing a gps analog here... expensive standalone system, vs., just a little radar box plugged into the computer....
Is there anything like that?