heinrich

95 in a 70 was one I remember well Les, yesterday maybe 70 in a 45.

Jim_H

If your reflexes are faster than the speed of light and you have X Ray vision anything is possible.

heinrich

Tony ... my challenge stands

Les White

Those speed overages are pretty stout. Surely they got a good reading on their gun or do you think not.

Maybe they got a good laugh when your groceries went flying forward. Let the poor guy get his medicine when he explains to the wife why all the eggs are broke.

So what's your theory about why they let you by.

Les

heinrich

Les it's really simple. The difference in reaction time between laser and radar in human terms is negligible. How do all those people beat all those radar hits when radar trains and measures faster than a human can react? Simple. It takes time to get it pointed straight. In fact it's WORSE for them, harder to get it trained, because the end of the beam is 100 yards away. Ever try to aim a handgun at a moving target and hit a license plate? Or even hit a car? Also, as with radar, if they measure others, your detector will warn you.

Fogey1

heinrich wrote:
"I suppose i should post a challenge .... if you say a laser detector won't save you .... tell us how many hits you've experienced, and how many resulted in tickets. Here's my score:

approx. 20 hits
1 ticket in Whistler Detector car
1 ticket in Valentine One car
zero tickets in SR-1 car."


Is that an older model? I go to the site http://www.passportsr1.com/ and get SRX, SR7 etc.

Mucho dinero, tambien. Were you able to find a break? Could be a nice treat to my wife for Valentine's Day. ;-)

heinrich

Will mine was 1500 6 years ago, I got it for less and installed it. Today the SR7 etc have superseded it, so the SR1 can be bought used for very little.

Les White

It's also possible that some of your hits were detected at max range, further out than they can receive a reflected signal, and by dropping your speed quick enough you're close to or within the speed limit by the time they're receiving a good reflection.

Les

heinrich

Yes, I don't profess to know their equipment that well, but I suspect that other vehicles; my rapid lane changes and other factors likely contributed to my success. I do know with 100% certainty that I saw a guy about 75 yards ahead and about 25 degrees off tothe right, and I came from 90 plus to under 60 in a hurry and sailed past him, his gun trained at me as I passed. I saw another when I was doing 95 plus, entering a dip in the freeway under a steel bridge passing other cars. I saw him standing almost straight ahead, aiming at me like you would a handgun. I sailed past in the same manner.

SharkSkin

Good point(ha) about getting the laser pointed straight. Saying you need super-human reflexes to beat laser assumes that the person at the other end of the beam has super-human ability to aim and gain a lock the instant the laser illuminates -- and it ain't so.

heinrich

To the point Dave Thanks for pointing that out.

SharkSkin

Ugh... very punny...

MorganRock

Heinrich... you seem to have laser and "instant on" radar confused. My stepdad is ***'t cmdr of CVD of the State Troopers here in MD, and I dont know about your state, but laser is the least of your worries, and most depts dont use them as much anymore. Chances are that you've just been lucky that most police are nice or lazy. I've gone past a cop at 95 in a 30 @ 3am (in an intersection, no less) and stomped it and the guy simply flashed his lights on and off and just let me be (then came flying up behind me about 10 sec later to make sure i was still slowed down).

Instant on radar is i think X/K-something band radar that pops on instantaneously and gives a speed reading then turns off. It aims passively, then picks up your speed in active mode. (old military tech) Another FYI, most cruisers have broad detection areas for radar... they have a targeting mode where they can select ahead, behind, oncoming lane front, or oncoming lane behind... their radar's no joke...

the other piece of equipment at their disposal is a good old Dist/Time computer (i forget the name of it). they click it on when you pass a marker, then click it off when you're done. completely stealth, but acceptable in court. (AKA, ur screwed)

I've been racing on roads since I was about 16, and the #1 (and only real sure-fire way to do it) method of avoiding tickets is to be smart about where you speed. Don't speed on unknown roads or roads with blind corners, and dont speed in the dark. Darkness for cover works both ways, and trust me, it doesn't go "if i cant see him he cant see me". if you're doin 120 in the dark in the middle of the night, chances are that the cop will see/hear you long before you have any clue as to where he is.

I speed only on open roads with little to no traffic in broad daylight on roads that i know intimately, and keep 100% focused on situational awareness. If you aren't constantly keeping your sights 1/8-1/4 mi. ahead of you or behind you, you're gonna get hit real hard by bad luck some day.

(That said, all my close calls have come from when i've stepped out of my own rules and been almost nailed by cops that i didn't see)

i honestly believe that radar detectors will most likely make you more complacent than aid in evading tickets. in ALL of my times that i've sped in total seriousness (110+), i've never come close to being caught, and i feel that it's 100% due to simply being as careful as possible (while doing reckless things love the little irony there)...

Tony

EVERY speeding ticket i have had was with a radar detector and the false sense of confidence with it. I wont waste my money on a V1 or the likes anymore.
I haven't used one actively in the past 2yrs...no tickets.
Actively in the mindset of...."im going to use my radar detector to travel the next 100 miles to grandmas house in 1 hr"
If i take a long trip, yeah, i turn it on, why not it does help, i dont argue that. Its the way the cat and mouse game is played by the cat holding the radar gun that counts,
If im in a group of folks or pacing a car a ahead of me it often helps to flush out the presence of cop so to speak....then i slow down

My neighbor is a metro bike cop...what type of test would you like, may be i can borrow his toy . After talking with him...if its aimed at YOU and the trigger is pulled, its to late.

Set of eyeballs some situational awareness and hopefully a bit of"smart" speeding is how i go about it. Slowdown over crests...approaching blind on ramps..watch for bikes on the overpassess...and if everyone is going slow, its usually for a reason....and also "check six"

These days im more likely to get a ticket for unwarranted acceleration..or..exhibition driving

SharkSkin

MorganRock,

Heinrich lives in Washington State, filled with the most laser-happy Gestapo I've ever seen. I've seen them parked on a gradual left hand bend in the freeway, taking up the entire narrow left shoulder, standing on the embankment lasering cars. Probably half the lasers I saw in use utilized that tactic. It's nuts up there -- everyine is scared to go over 60. (except H).

In California, CHP sticks with Ka, most others have a mix of K and Ka... so I generally don't care much about laser. Even if it was a local threat, I think it would help that there's nothing to lock onto except my lights.

I find that I frequently get significant warning from "scatter". Very seldom have I had to drop anchor while in the threat zone, because most of the time I pick up the signal long before I see him or he sees me. Other times it's the eyeball Mark IV that saves me.

There is no substitute for being on your toes, aware of who is ahead, behind, and coming on the ramp as you pass. A detector can only enhance that, not replace it. Tony, you're into aviation... how many navigational or operational tasks are there that cannot be performed in more than one way? You can get ground speed from a GPS, calculate by triangulating off of beacons, radar, etc. Don't you feel better when there is more than one way to get the info you need?

Anyway, not everyone benefits from detectors, no one detector is ideal for every environment. But I for one feel a bit naked without it.