Even if you do the speed limit you could still get pulled over by a gun that hasn't been calibrated correctly
and people like you drive me crazy so please stay out of the left lane
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Even if you do the speed limit you could still get pulled over by a gun that hasn't been calibrated correctly
and people like you drive me crazy so please stay out of the left lane
To be notified of speed traps, 100% it should be promoted. I have zero problems with state police sitting in full view. This actually keeps traffic at a safe speed. However, once they start hiding in bushes, and out of sight, this is solely for making money off tickets, and does nothing to protect the road.
Also, check your state laws, and learn to flash oncomming motorists. In MASS, it's not against the law. But a cop can ask you if you did in fact flash your lights and why. If you say you didn't flash, he can give you a ticket for faulty lights, which is an offense you can be ticketed for. So in MASS, if you flash and get pulled over, tell him outright you flashed to warn oncoming drivers. Nothing he can do at that point.
I will only flash if I see a cop hidden from view. If he's in plain view, I won't give him up.
Speed isn't dangerous, in itself, provided you aren't trying to push the boundaries of your vehicle and the road itself. Speed only kills when there's some other element that causes a sudden rapid deceleration, generally through reckless driving.
The German Autobahn has no speed limit for most of the road system, yet has 27% fewer deaths per mile than the US interstate system. Why? The roads are better maintained, the drivers have better training, and the left lane is used only for passing. That last part is particularly key. You're not going to have a lot of tailgating and weaving through traffic if everyone gets out of the way of faster drivers.
Simply put, drivers in Germany are much safer despite the average speed of over 80 MPH, and 15% of them driving faster than 95 MPH. Is speed dangerous? Clearly not, if you don't drive like an idiot.
its getting tons of mis-reads from all the proximity sensors cars have nowadays. so, I'm still looking for something that works
Good detectors have a far longer range than the radar being used. 10 miles isn't unheard of, whereas radar is generally only effective out to a mile or so. Cops may leave the thing off until you're right on top of them, in which case you're screwed when they suddenly turn it on, but if you're not the rabbit, a long-range detector will pick up the radar being used on whoever is ahead of you going fast. That's assuming you're paying attention to short bursts.
If you are going to speed, you should be in a pack of speeders, anyway, and you should never be the fastest guy on the road because the fastest guy always get caught.
Police absolutely could defeat detectors by carpeting the roads with radar transmitters, but like all things done in excess, that would cost money. Let's be clear, speeding tickets aren't to make the roads safer. The fines are simply another revenue source for the government, and a way of justifying an ever-growing police bureaucracy. They're not going to spend lots of money to shut down their revenue source. If they cared about road safety, they'd spend money on better driver's education and testing, and increase traffic violation fines to prohibitive levels. Instead they keep the fines just low enough that people don't care enough to hire a lawyer to fight them (and often win) most of the time, and so they're willing to risk a moderate fine speeding or driving recklessly. They get enough drivers to speed and pay the fines, and the government is happy. It is never about safety. As with everything, follow the money.
I upgraded my V1 ~3 years back and it's still the same version sans the ESP features, etc. I think their upgrade is $~200-$250 for the ESP version but I'm not planning on upgrading it for that since my detector isn't obsolete, yet.
I'll upgrade when they integrate better features in the iOS app with some V1 network that automatically shows where speed traps are?
On the highway, 5 over is not even a violation. They can't write you a ticket, because it always gets thrown out. Too much variation in speedometers and radar readings, no court is going to accept it wasn't a rounding error. Even if they pull you over, it's just to harass you and waste your time, not to write you up. 10 over you won't ever get pulled over because the fine is too small to make it worth their time and everyone is going 10 over anyway. 15 over and you're in trouble, but you may be able to get off with a warning. And again, it depends on what other drivers are doing. In court you can easily get it pled down or thrown out if you've got a lawyer, get lucky, or know what you're doing. If they're not desperate for quota and they've already got some 20+ drivers bagged, or expect one along soon, they may just let you go without a chase.
If there's too much traffic and they don't feel safe pulling out and chasing you down, they may just hope the sight of their vehicle will slow everyone down and that's all the "enforcement" they're going for. Again, remember it's about revenue generation, not safety. The only safety cops care about is for themselves. If you blow past them at under 15 MPH over, they're sitting there wondering if you've got warrants and a gun. Is it really worth it for a moderate speeding fine? Heck, is it even worth it getting out of the car and risking some looky-loo accidentally running them over? Then there's the court date they have to show up for, what a pain.
Your best bet is keep it under 15 MPH over in case you get surprised, slow down to under 10 over when you see them (or with a radar detector, detect them), and if you ever do get a ticket, fight it with everything you got. If you can delay a trial long enough the cop may not even work for the department anymore, and meanwhile you can generate enough paper to scare whatever fresh-out-of-school county prosecutor they have assigned to your case into offering you a very favorable plea. Your case could not be a lower priority, and an early loss on his record when he's just starting out with the scut work isn't how he wants to start his career or impress his boss. Subpoena everything and everyone related to the case. You'll immediately be losing money for the state, far more than they'd get from your ticket, and they'll let you off with a slap on the wrist. Traffic enforcement is supposed to be a money maker for the state, not a money loser. With the right knowledge you can do this yourself for "free." Otherwise hire a lawyer to handle it for you and you won't pay much more than your ticket. Really, it's your car insurance you need to be worried about if you were caught doing something particularly naughty.
If you use common sense you can also avoid speeding tickets.
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It's like saying people who don't steal drive me crazy????
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Even if you do the speed limit you could still get pulled over by a gun that hasn't been calibrated correctly
It's like saying people who don't steal drive me crazy????
You're absolutely right. State police should be in bright neon cars in plain view and flashing lights. That would get people to slow down. What they actually do is hide and use unmarked cars and other tricks solely for revenue generation. They couldn't care less about safety. There are far better and more effective means of getting safer roads but they all cost more money and don't generate any extra funds, that's why we'll never have safer roads.
It's like saying people who don't steal drive me crazy????
Speeding isn't criminal, it's a "violation", so let's at least shut down that analogy. You have to be driving very recklessly to get criminal charges.
But, all that aside, if you're in the passing lane and not passing somebody, you're in violation yourself. In most jurisdictions in the US it's illegal to travel in the leftmost lane. Either you pass, or you get out of the way. Everywhere that doesn't have laws against traveling in the leftmost lane still require that you move to the right and yield to faster traffic. Before you come back and say that going at the speed limit in the left lane is okay, you're wrong. The United States Uniform Vehicle Code says that you must be in the right lane if you're traveling slower than the "normal speed" of traffic, not the legal speed of traffic. That is to say, if you're in a 55 MPH zone and most cars are going 65 MPH, you aren't allowed in the leftmost lane. If you're going 65 MPH in a 55 MPH zone and most cars are going 66 MPH, you aren't allowed in the leftmost lane. You are creating an obstruction to the free flow of traffic which has the legal right to overtake you, and you're also creating a dangerously unpredictable situation as other drivers inevitably try to pass on the right.
Before you get all high-and-mighty about always following the speed limit, slow drivers in the leftmost lane cause a lot of accidents. The German Autobahn where there are no speed limits, and drivers strictly adhere to the passing lane being solely for passing, have greatly reduced road fatalities compared to the US highway systems were drivers routinely disobey the laws relating to the passing lane.
Bottom line, before you start casting stones, make sure you're obeying all the traffic laws, including the ones about slower traffic (as compared to "normal speed").
I don't speed in residential neighborhoods, areas with pedestrians, or school zones. I don't tailgate or give anyone else a reason to tailgate me or perform a dangerous passing maneuver. I keep up with other traffic whether they're going slow or fast. I always stay out of the leftmost lane when I'm not passing, and I yield to faster drivers. I stay alert, with my eyes on the road, I double-check my blindspots before lane-changing, and I minimize distractions. I don't drive when I've been drinking or haven't gotten enough sleep. I'll admit, sometimes I speed on nice wide, straight highways. But doing so, recognizing that other drivers are doing the same around me, I'm a safer and more courteous driver than somebody who sits in the passing lane going exactly the speed limit.
I can at least appreciate wanting to be notified of upcoming speed cameras, in the UK I believe they are legally obliged to notify drivers with signage of upcoming static automated speed cameras - the boxes even need to have bright yellow stickers to make them visible. We normally have automated cameras because it is indeed a waste of time to have police sitting at the side of the road collecting tickets.
I would guess however that a lot of people would abuse this kind of radar detector to just make up their own motoring rules.
Look, I live in Europe and am well aware of driving laws in my own country and familiar with the US regulations. I know you have to keep the left lane clear except for passing. At the end of the day, you're still forced to keep the lane clear for people who won't obey the law. And don't start with your violation/criminal wording again. They're just different words for the same thing. Driving too fast is clearly illegal. If you want to call if a "violation" to make yourself feel better than that's ok, but you can't make an argument that way. Your whole argument is based on a premise that speeding is a violation and not a criminal act, therefore it's not that bad. What??????
You should google fallacious arguments and try to figure out what's wrong with your argument.Off topic, but also a laser can be legally jammed, while "jamming" radar requires broadcasting radio and you need FCC license in the USA or similar government permission to do so, so there are few commercial products which will do this. Laser is just beams of light and you are free to manipulate them however you want.
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In Australia the police have clearly visible cars, and there are even warnings before you hit the speed trap "Alert: Speed monitoring station 2km ahead". There were also signs that were designed only to promote safety, and not scare/intimidate the population or generate money for the state "Feeling tired? Pull over and nap". This is a much different society than America.
Look, I live in Europe and am well aware of driving laws in my own country and familiar with the US regulations. I know you have to keep the left lane clear except for passing. At the end of the day, you're still forced to keep the lane clear for people who won't obey the law. And don't start with your violation/criminal wording again. They're just different words for the same thing. Driving too fast is clearly illegal. If you want to call if a "violation" to make yourself feel better than that's ok, but you can't make an argument that way. Your whole argument is based on a premise that speeding is a violation and not a criminal act, therefore it's not that bad. What??????
They're not different words for the same thing in America. They are distinct legal concepts with very different outcomes and rules regarding enforcement. I'm not correcting you to make myself feel better, but merely to point out that your analogy with theft (a criminal act) is wrong. Regardless of what you want to call it, your analogy is also flawed because theft clearly has a victim whereas speeding (on its own) hurts no one. If a person is speeding recklessly, that's different, but there are separate (and criminal) laws related to reckless driving. I in no way condone reckless driving. Every driver speeds, even if inadvertently and only by a little, but very few are actually criminals, even fewer end up hurting anyone, and the point of criminality is well beyond anything anyone is talking about here. What we're talking about are traffic violations, and of the two, speeding is much less dangerous than traveling slowly in the passing lane.
As it should be. That said, I'd much rather live by US laws than Australian laws, but I'll gladly trade cops. I just wish enforcement was less about making money and more about safety in this country. The latest thing here that's starting to pop up everywhere are red light cameras that automatically ticket people, with no regard to circumstance and often trigger incorrectly by any human standard (an actual cop won't ticket you for being an inch over the line, fully stopped, but the camera triggers). Again, the fines are low enough so few end up fighting it, and nobody's so scared of the fine as to actually stop running red lights. It's purely a way for local governments to make easy money. There's been talk of automatic speed ticketing, but thankfully that's being met with a lot of resistance since it removes the human element and would result in literally every driver being fined again and again.
There are a few signs about seat belts, drunk driving, and falling asleep at the wheel on American roadways, but these are generally there because of outside lobbying by citizen groups (Mother's Against Drunk Driving, etc.). The government has limited interest in actually doing anything about safety aside from regulations on car manufacturers. They also don't keep the roads in terribly good shape, either.
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Agree sharing the data, together with clever risk algorithms, is the way to go, and the solution to instant on pulse radar or laser.
Unfortunately, we have "speed cameras" here and most people seem to hate them. They are purely revenue generators, which should be obvious because the manufacturers donate the equipment and install/maintain it ... and they keep about 1/2 of the fines collected. But it is "free money" for the city.
In at least one I regularly go through, it is a 6 lane divided highway and the speed limit abruptly drops from 65 to 55mph, with the new speed limit sign about 100 feet before the radar monitors. The low-power radar guns are facing down and slightly away from approaching traffic so it will not trigger your radar-detector until you pass under the road sign that they are concealed behind ... and by that time you have been clocked.
Since you may not receive your ticket for weeks, many visitors who are unaware of the cameras happily pass through that zone over and over while visiting the city, only to arrive home to later receive a stack of citations for each and every time they were clocked going too fast. Had they been immediately stopped by the patrol and ticketed/warned, they would certainly be more careful in that area during the rest of their stay. Instead, they become very bitter towards ever coming back to visit, shop, dine, stay, etc. in this city. Some locals will of course say "well we don't want your law-breaking kind anyway", but all they did was not respond to the immediate speed reduction quick enough.
Now ... red-light cameras ... I am OK with those! Too many drivers try to "beat the light" and end up T-boning some innocent driver who had a green light.
I upgraded my V1 ~3 years back and it's still the same version sans the ESP features, etc. I think their upgrade is $~200-$250 for the ESP version but I'm not planning on upgrading it for that since my detector isn't obsolete, yet.
I'll upgrade when they integrate better features in the iOS app with some V1 network that automatically shows where speed traps are?
I just sent in my very early detector (2003?) and paid $199 for a complete update/upgrade. Nice thing about the newest detectors is the crystal control. Old ones needed a retune once in a while to stay in band, new ones don't.
Lol you really do have a loud mouth on you. You definitely belong on radardetector.net with all the other lack luster intelligent people on there.
If I can recall, a one jona2125 said the following:
Your lackluster display of smartness has already been on display (you even use the word smart). I don't like people making comments about things they know (or don't know, as it were), or for some odd reason wanting to keep them super secret. Maybe only the people in your super-secret club know what you are talking about.
But saying "I won't disclose how it all works but what you're referring to already exists if you're smart enough to know how to use it." is being a total pr1ck at the very least, and verging on @zz hole to be sure.
So why exactly won't you disclose them? Aside from not knowing what you are talking about, the only thing I can assume is that you want to be a total horses @zz.
You do realize that if there were no speeding tickets, people would drive through your neighborhood at 60mph, and do 120 on the interstate?
Why not?
You mean 40 mph and 80 mph. It's illegal, but that's what people do.
Nobody tries regulating the speed you walk (outside of an elementary school,) or the speed you ride your bike, so why do they care about the speed you drive? It's in everybody's best interest not to collide, regardless of your means of transportation, and so everyone picks a reasonable speed on their own. The only cases when they don't are in cases where there's other problems. Why not aim to cure those other problems rather than the symptom? The problem is they're emotionally charged, or impaired, or tired - aim to prevent those people from even trying to get around (or from getting them from being in those states in the first place.)
Mostly because the less people that do know about it the less I have to have it be an issue in my life. As far as me making a comment about being smart enough to know how to use it, that's exactly what it takes. The LEO's that get that extra detail in training for how to operate their radar units will therefore be smarter than the rest of the bunch but it's a very small few and I like it that way. Like I said, if you were really that intrigued, and I pressure you to think for yourself and question authority and not just sit here and bicker which is making you the prick, you would be able to most likely find information on methods far more stealth than Instant-On radar. It's really not that hard. I personally won't disclose because yes there is a club that exists and we don't publicly disclose certain high-risks (to us RD users). It's very much all over radardetector.net because they have been able to ruin a lot of good things for us already and that's why I am not much a fan. You started the argument sir. I simply said what you were describing exists and actually as a matter of fact did tell you what it was already, it's called Instant-On. The other method I mention is something you can go ask a cop about, if he knows, or research it yourself. I, personally, am choosing not to disclose what it is. It's my choice so you can get off my case about it.
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This!
I, too, think I have every right to use a device which is really nothing more than a radio frequency detector, to be alerted that radar or laser is in use in the vicinity.
The people who have problems with this really confuse me? Do you also have problems with police patrol cars having flashing lights on top and markings, because those, too, give you warning that police are nearby!
For that matter, I think we almost all know of areas where a speed limit is enforced as a money grab, and not for legitimate reasons of safety. If you're trying to be a law abiding citizen and driving at a reasonable speed, following the speed limit, and it suddenly drops to something unreasonably slow in one little spot? There's NOTHING wrong with you speeding through that area, in my opinion. You wouldn't have reasonably expected the speed to decrease there if you didn't already know about it. And if you do get caught there, chances are good you'll have to go through a court system that's not interested in "justice" at all either. It's there simply to make you pay a tax. If a radar detector helps you avoid those tickets, more power to you!
I, too, think I have every right to use a device which is really nothing more than a radio frequency detector, to be alerted that radar or laser is in use in the vicinity.
The people who have problems with this really confuse me? Do you also have problems with police patrol cars having flashing lights on top and markings, because those, too, give you warning that police are nearby!
For that matter, I think we almost all know of areas where a speed limit is enforced as a money grab, and not for legitimate reasons of safety. If you're trying to be a law abiding citizen and driving at a reasonable speed, following the speed limit, and it suddenly drops to something unreasonably slow in one little spot? There's NOTHING wrong with you speeding through that area, in my opinion. You wouldn't have reasonably expected the speed to decrease there if you didn't already know about it. And if you do get caught there, chances are good you'll have to go through a court system that's not interested in "justice" at all either. It's there simply to make you pay a tax. If a radar detector helps you avoid those tickets, more power to you!