Im trying to figure out if I should invest in a quality radar again, I had a V1 for a few years and it got stolen out my car. My driving habbits havent changed much but I can only drive so far on pure luck. I want to see how many of you think its a vital part of motoring the reason I'm asking because my friend wants to sell me his passport x50 for a $100 .

 

I can see the value of having one especially on the more spirited drives, but I typically just cruise at 5-10 over the speed limit so it's not too useful for me.

 

V1 here.

I feel naked when i drive without it.

 

Sounds to me like that's the main problem.

Sometimes we need to change our driving habits even if we don't particularly want to. In your case, it sounds like it might do you some good....even without a detector, you won't have to worry about tickets, fines, insurance, or your license.

 

it's very much needed for me, but on long trips

within the city there are too many false alarm and cops a lot of times paces people so radar is useless. but on long trips a lot of times i go 20+ over and it helps

 

Santa is a pretty smart guy....he brought me a detector a few months after I got my F for Xmas. Only reason I still have my license.

 

Agreed, that's pretty much the drill in CA for experienced and proficient drivers.

Most CHP leaves instant-on radar in the "on" mode all the time, so you end up with a cop-detector which comes in handy. Using a radar detector intelligently increases awareness and alertness on long freeway/highway stints.

 

I had those things when I was in my 20's. I No longer use radar detectors..

 

I've always been told, be smart, don't speed in unfamiliar areas and know the roads and traffic patterns where you drive.

A radar detector would be nice for over the highway when driving from ATL to NY or vice versa, but one speeding ticket in my 13 years of driving in Virginia, Im good without one

 

I've found no real need for a detector within the city. I don't speed on surface streets enough to get noticed by law enforcement.

On the freeways I've had a V1 save my *** more than once...

 

After all these years, have radar/laser detectors really proven to work? I mean by the time they detect anything, you've already been spotted or the laser got you already. I think a detector is purely psychological. For those that said it saved them... in what instance did it "save" you? Were you alone on a highway doing 30 over and then it blipped, you slowed down and 1/2 mile later there was a cop hiding?

I mean come on... most cops are hiding in speed traps where you can't even see them. I think that detector picking up "residual" signal is all BS...

Hopefully I'm not about to jinx myself, but speed smart. Don't be the first, don't be the last, just stay in a pack. Traffic if funny right, they travel in group, there is never an even flow except where there is traffic. So, if you are travelling from one bunch to the next, don't go racing over all by yourself, wait until a few are with you, then speed up together.

 

I havent use a radar since college, I guess I been lucky. I usually stay with the flow of the fastest traffic if my kid or wife is the car. Once a while, I would dart out and pass someone. One long trips, I try to stay around 80 MPH.

 

I've yet to be caught but I'm looking to get the new Passport 9500ix which comes preloaded with red light/speed camera locations.

 

Depends where you drive. I just got in the habit from time in Mexico to watch every police officer when I saw them (because they were looking for vehicles with foreign plates), even though at the time I was there only the Federal Highway Patrol used radar guns. Plus, dealing with instant-on is a big PITA.

 

I haven't had a detector on 15 or so years. Well, technically, I still have one, I just don't use it (it's been sitting in my toolbox for a long time).

I've found that, in all the instances I've gotten a ticket in the last 15 or 20 years, a radar detector wouldn't have done me any good any way. Most local agencies around here are using VASCAR, or some other timing method, so there is nothing to detect. And on the highway, the state troopers are using laser much more than radar these days.

The other problem with detectors is that people rely on them too much. They get complacent, set the cruise control at 85, and expect the thing to do all the thinking for them. Then they're surprised when they get 'pinged' by a state trooper.

Like someone else posted above, speed smart. Learn to recognize the types of places LEO's like to sit and tag people. The backside of a hill with a blind crest, behind bridge abutments, emergency pull-offs and rest stops, or anywhere else the cop can sit unnoticed until your right up on him. Being 'pro-active' in your driving will save you more from a ticket then even the best detector ever could.

In the end, a detector is just a tool. There is nothing wrong with adding one to your arsenal, but it's not the last word in protecting yourself from a ticket.