I saw on our TV news today how the Florida State Patrol will have more officers out on the roads next week. I guess maybe they are there for added safety and increase response time, but the State is probably trying to cash in on extra speeding tickets too since so many people will be driving next week. The State Patrol is even pulling officers off of desk jobs and non-patrol jobs and putting them to work on the roads next week too. I bet local and county cops/sheriffs will be doing exactly the same thing, so they can also raise more money for the city and county during the heavy holiday driving time. Tickets in Florida are not cheap, they just doubled the price of all speeding tickets and traffic violations not long ago. Georgia has a new "super speeder" law that lets the cops write you a huge ticket for going just 2 or 3 mph over the limit.

I am taking a trip up to Atlanta next week for Thanksgiving and the TV news got me to thinking maybe I should invest in a radar detector. I can get a cheap Cobra detector at Advance for $40.00 or for $60.00 I can get a Whistler at Auto Zone that has a few more lights on it to alert me if it goes off and I don't hear it right away. I don't drive crazy fast, maybe 75 is the fastest I will go. I don't want to be a speed demon, I would just like to avoid the speed traps that will be out there.

Anyone here using a radar detector? If so what brand and does it really work? Has it saved you any tickets? I appreciate any info you have about it. Thanks.

Jimmy

 

I depend on the good ol fashion cb radio trucker tend to be better at pin pointing cops than some radar detector most the time by the time it goes off it to late to slow down


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What he said. With modern guns, by the time the detectors go off, you're dead.

 

I use mine up here in Ohio. usually when state troopers are sitting in the median on the highway it doesnt go off but normally you can see them ahead of time. local police that are running radar either at a stand still or driving will set it off. has saved me everytime except when i was the only vehicle on the road one night and it was too late. if there are cars in front of you i've noticed it always picks it up early. except for lasar's. that will get you everytime. just play it safe and keep your eyes peeled at all times

 

There a few on the market that say they work and will help if you get a speeding ticket. But you will pay $300-500 for them and I still wouldn't trust them. Radar detectors for the most part don't work. It will go off after the Police have you tagged you. I have better luck with my CB.

 

Thanks for the replies. I think I will get a radar detector, it may keep me out of trouble or at least help me be more aware of cops that might be clocking cars ahead of me and give me a chance to slow down..I think I will go with this one from Auto Zone, it costs more but it has a lot better reviews on Amazon.com:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...ier=56017_0_0_

I don't need or want a CB. I do think a radar detector might help some, especially this time of year when my wife and I travel a lot on weekends. We go to Disney pretty often, which is a 50 mile round trip, and we go visit her mother, which is a 120 mile round trip at least once a week. I have seen cops clocking people, not all of the time but enough that I know to watch my speed.

I drove up to Atlanta and then to South Carolina and back home last year and trying to watch for the cops drove me insane. I usually drive right at or maybe just a few mph over the limit but I think on this trip to Atlanta I might get distracted. I sure don't want a ticket, and I understand a radar detector will not stop the cops from clocking me, but I also think maybe a good cheap detector might be good cheap insurance and give me a slight chance to slow down before I get a ticket.

Thanks

Jimmy

 

Anyone that says they don't work is showing their ignorance. Radar detectors detect radar, it depends how this radar is employed whether or not you can "save" yourself. If an officer hits you with instant-on, which is nothing more than him leaving his radar unit in stand-by mode until he wants to clock someone, you are done for. If he uses instant-on on vehicles further up the road, you can detect this and slow down prior to being in a position to be clocked. If the officer leaves his radar on, like many still do, you can certainly detect this, sometimes miles away, and slow down.

Any modern radar detector can also detect LIDAR (laser). Rarely will you ever get a save, LIDAR is a focused beam of light that specifically targets single vehicles, not a wide swath of radio waves like radar. The best you can hope for is a scattered beam off of a shiny vehicle or wet roadway to alert you, but I can assure you this is extremely rare. The good news is you can jam LIDAR legally in many states, but it's going to cost you.

The best thing you can do is be aware of your surroundings and use good judgment, there is a time and place for everything. My RD along with being alert has saved me many times. The one ticket I have received (which was a LIDAR ticket BTW) was simply from me being over-confident and speeding in an area which was likely to have LEO activity. I became complacent after driving through that area many times and never seeing a LEO. I still believe my speed through that area was reasonable and thankfully I was able to get half of my money back on it. Oregon can take their ridiculous speed limits and go pound sand.


A visible radar detector almost always going to insure you get a ticket if you are stopped, LEOs do not like it when you try to best them will be less likely to be lenient. Mine is hidden in the sun visor and has never been see by a LEO and has certainly contributed to my lack of tickets on justified traffic stops.


Cobras are junk, the best bang for the buck is a Escort 8500 refurb on eBay for $150.

 

100% agree with Hahns. Also remember there are airplanes that can clock you too. they dont use radar but use the quarter mile markers on the shoulder to compute your speed. my last speeding ticket came that way and my radar detector (cheaper cobra 6 band 5 years old) never made a beep.

 

I usually try to get mid-pack in the center lane and set cruise with the flow. usually they'll go for the front or back of the pack and the core is safe.

 

Every city and county is out to nail you now that’s some heavy fines they slap you with to fill their pockets with its crazy now $220 to $500 a ticket is robbery in my opinion our city’s and counties have turned on use and will shake use down every chance they get kind of feels like we now live in Russia