Wow, I have 6 years with no tickets. And it wasn't because of a radar detector. Maybe the burnt gas, tickets and price of electronics isn't worth it?

But when it comes down to it, I will stick with a CB (ch 15 on highway 5 south of hwy 46, ch 17 north).

 

I find most speed limits in non-residential, non-construction areas to be totally arbitrary. If I want to do 80mph on open divided Interstate with a vehicle that's in good shape, I think I should be able to do it. Speed in and of itself does not kill. Driving beyond your limit and/or road conditions does. Being that most of my friends are Police officers (State and local), they confirm my idea that speed limits, in general, are strictly for revenue generation.

 

I do not disagree with your view. However, one thing that everyone always overlooks is that it doesn't matter how good of a driver you are, you can not make up for the person who is not a good driver. Of course that shouldn't be a problem since everyone is a good driver if you ask them . Does the 16 year old kid who has had his license for 1 day with the brand new Camero that his parents bought him have the right to drive 80 plus because he has a vehicle in good shape? Do you want him to? I say no.

How about this senario:
You are cruising around at 85 MPH, you start catching up to a big truck that is doing 58 MPH. You swing out to pass him on the left, which is proper, but didn't notice me slowly passing him doing 60 MPH. WHAM! You hit be, we both go out of control as your vehicle sudden slows to about 65 and mine suddenly accelerates to 75. I roll and my wife dies because the defective seatbelt she is wearing tears and throws her out the window. You being the excelent driver you are regain control and pull off safely to the side.

The mortician comes to pick my wifes body up and put it in the body bag, no point of an ambulance ride, she was partially decapitated. I take you to court and win 35 million dollars from you. Your wife leaves you because she can't handle living with a person who murdered someone, and who has to cut a check for the rest of your life. I can't handle the loss of my wife, I commit suicide.

Far fetched? Think about it a few days. If you can tell me that it is impossible, that will never happen, then I feel sorry for you.

BTW, it is partially made up, but some of this information is based on a real occurance.

Is it really worth it to be there a few minutes early?

 

Ok, I could see this coming. I originally posted about a radar detector and how effective mine is. I did not intend to start a debate about the morals of disobeying traffic laws. I've even read the touching email where the guy gets pissed at the cop who he thinks is writing him a ticket even though they are members of the same church congregation. I love my V1 and will continue to use it to beat everything except laser. I find that the ol' pair of Mark I eyeballs is best at defeating that particular device.

Yes, you could die any number of ways. Think about all of those meteors out there...

 

Sorry for ruining your thread.

 

Speeding tickets are written for one reason and one reason only- REVENUE!!! I think that the government gets more than enough of MY money. I'm with STX/98 and Sapo. Having a detector is not a license to speed or drive like an idiot, nor is it meant to be used like that. If you don't want one, simply don't buy one. To each his own but there is no arguing the fact that a quality detector , like the Valentine One can and will save an average driver hundreds of dollars a year in " frivilous " speeding tickets. It is very easy to slowly creep 7-10 mph above the posted limit while just " keeping up" with the flow of traffic. Try to explain that to the policeman as he writes you the citation. Besides, IMHO, the police should have much more important things to do than to target people who might be driving 5 mph over the speed limit. My town has no shortage of crack houses and stolen cars, etc. In my opinion, police manpower could be far more effectively used. But as they say, opinions are like a**holes( everybody has one and most of them stink.) And before you ask, I don't have a hard on for Cops.

I've had CB's as well and to me they are a source of constant noise. I like to listen to my CD's, not some overly talkative trucker, But to those that like them, go ahead, that is your perogative. Didn't want to start a flame, I was curious if anybody had similar experience with their detectors. Had no intention, of starting a moral debate over speeding or the pros and cons of detector vs. CB's. My original post was just an inquiry to others. To each his own and to everybody out there on this site, I would like to wish them a very Happy New Year.


Just my .02

 

Yeah...sometimes, I just have to shut the thing off when people show just how stupid they can be. But for the most part, I can squelch out the back ground noise, and listen for the good signals while I listen to my CD's. The last time I used a radar detector, it told me the cop was there just as I flew by him at 95 in a 45. I just pulled over as soon as the buzzer went off...LoL.

 

All of my family's car's have radar detectors, albeit in different state of effectivness.

I got a BEL 950, one of the best ones I've ever seen. Very User friendly, lots of features, great range, etc.


Another one is in the Escape, It's a cobra discontinued model, cant remember its number off-hand. It works well, pretty simple, but no where near the range of the BEL.

Finally we have a back up BEL ancient model (its so old, I cant find a model number !!!) It's terrible, been dropped/frozen many times, so many falses, cant tell if its a cop or cell tower .. grrr saving it for a Micky Shore trade in trade up sale

Invauble radar detectors are. Just follow common sense, drive within your abilities and conditions, and dont speed around town! Save buring the pedal til your on the country roads or on the expressway! And put that darned cell phone/Big Mac/lipstick/pda/newspaper/whatever down and think about driving for once!

My .02 cents!

 

The latest issue of Car & Driver has a shootout of all the latest detectors on the market. The Valentine one was the best by far. Check out www.caranddriver.com.