Any detector, even a cheap Cobra from WalMart, is better than none. Even with full visual situational awareness, there are risks that are not apparent until you are upon them. I'm getting close to installing a cockpit cam that includes a view of a speed readout for selective use as evidence.

For Ron's amusement, the latest trend down here is for the officer to say he estimated your speed visually, and 'verified' the estimation with a radar reading that he doesn't have to show you unless he feels like it. There are lots of arguments to use against radar, but getting past his court-approved 'visual estimation' of speed is going to take some imagination. I happen to have a license to operate and specifically to calibrate the radar unit, something the officer does not (and I -ALWAYS- ask). No way to ask for eyeball calibration data, unfortunately, so the best weapon will be recorded evidence from an unbiased witness, the camera.

I already have a data recorder in the Honda that logs time, car speed and GPS speed readings, among other things. The 928 doesn't have OBD connections for logging, unfortunately.

 

I must respectfully disagree with Bob about seeing the readout. It is the only evidence besides the obligatory visual estimation of speed (which MUST precede the officer's use of the radar unit) that the state has against you. A such I have a right as the accused to view the evidence being used against me to allow preparation of a proper defense. I once won a case like this in Honolulu involving Vascar when the officer refused to show me his dash unit readout, and the judge correctly and immediately dismissed the case. I always ask to see the readout on the dash or the gun, no matter what. In one case, in Monterey, in court awaiting arraignment I discovered several defendants who were stopped by the same cop on the same day in the same location (Ft. Ord following a race at Laguna Seca). All had the same violation and the same speed deviation. The officer had the gun readout on the same number without ever using it at all. I pled NG and the prosecutor later dismissed the charge presumably realizing I knew about their little trap. But let's have Dr. Bob's response on this issue since he may know something I have not yet discovered.

 

The officer gets around that annoying 'didn't really use the radar on you' by saying he estimated your speed. The radar as verification of his estimate moves it one place further from your reach. I made a fuss when my detector didn't go off when he said he'd used his radar. It was BS and we both knew it. How he could accurately tell the difference between 45 (limit) and 52 (estimated) head-on from half a mile away was pretty amazing too. There's a lot of crap going on, in the interest of public safety.

 

Currently on sale for $350 which I believe is about as good as it gets for a new unit:


According to CamelCamelCamel, lowest Amazon price in five years:




Not sure how long this price will last

 

your old radar detector is almost as old as I am

 

Thanks for the heads up... That's a great deal.

 

Just purchased. This is a steal!

 

Speedtoys beat me to it.

My last ticket was 5 years ago, iirc, from an airplane, and the statie on the ground gloated about "Your radar detector didn't go off, did it?" Then neither he nor the air observer bothered to show up in court and the case was dismissed.

My V1 is ripe for an update but still works. Saved me twice on a trip to a Catskills wedding.

 

Price is now up to $439. Must have been a 24 hr sale

 

Valentine.

 

Yep, I guess I just missed out on the deal.

 

Valentine One. Hands down the best.

 

http://www.radar-mirror.com/Escort.html