Is a radar detector really worth it?

[Groo]

My personal experience is that my V1 has saved me from at least a dozen potential tickets over the last 5 years, especially on long cross country trips. I agree wholeheartedly that audio is a necessity, and having it plugged into my earphones is just as important.

Two situations I haven't seen mentioned are nightime driving and LEOs approaching from the rear. In either of these situations, a V1 with directional arrows has let me know well in advance of approaching officers, who inevitably pull over other vehicles who are less informed.

Granted, I'm always keeping an eye out for law enforcement, including noting the mark of vehicles when you change states, but my experience tells me an RD is well worth the coin.

 

[SaharaJp99]

Well, I just picked up an Escort 8500 x50 for a good deal and got it mounted on the bike with audio into the Sena. I've been testing it out for a couple days in the cage, and so far, it seems to work well. I picked up a towny a good ways ahead, with several hills between us blaring his KA band. I am also stunned at how little of speed enforcement there is in Northern Colorado. This thing is defintely a good education on how the leo's work around here. CSP seems to just leave their KA band blaring all the time if they are patroling highways vs interstates, haven't picked up a laser hit yet. I pass threw three little farming communities on my commute everyday, and it is very valuable to know that one of them uses instant on almost all the time(but they aren't conservative, very easy to pick up well in advance), and the other two just leave them blaring. So far, I'm liking it, although I haven't been pushing my luck, just learning the detector and habits of the local leo's. Tomorrow will be my first long ride with it on the bike, so we'll see how it works in the mountains.

 

[dbvolfan]

IMO, No. When mine lit up it correlated to a ticket. I literally threw mine out and havent had a ticket since. Cant emplain it and I know others opinions and experiences differ but they did me no good whatsoever. And, if you are driving stupid fast it wont matter anyway.

Please define "stupid fast" in specific terms.

Stupid Fast I'd define as 100-110mph around some of these nice sweeping curves here on I75 here in LEX. The PD sit on the inside track of one of those sweepers and just pick you up in a split second and there is no way you are safely dropping down from that speed to something a LEO is going to overlook.

The ironic thing here is that I live in Richmond, KY and the Law Enforcement center at EKU has built a really nice niche in PD training. I have to travel North on I75 each day for work and at least 3 out of the 5 workdays I end up tailing cruisers (ususally unmarked) heading home after a weekly conference/training and I can literally follow them at um, 'crazy speeds' and they dont bat an eye. I have passed LEO shooting radar while behind 1 or 2 of these guys and they never blinked....

Not saying that a RD wont help at all....just relaying my experience with them which wasnt very positive because I tend to drive somewhat aggressively on the interstate for lack of a better word. Maybe one of those fancy Escort/Valentine ones with SA may help but I still havent been able to build a business case for the wife to support getting one of those.

 

[Bounce]

Stupid Fast I'd define as 100-110mph around some of these nice sweeping curves here on I75 here in LEX.

and that, dear reader, is the difference between riding east and west of the mississippi. hit the desert west of the us of a and cruisers idle along at 90.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Stupid Fast I'd define as 100-110mph ...

and that, dear reader, is the difference between riding east and west of the mississippi. hit the desert west of the us of a and cruisers idle along at 90.

Somewhere east of Lubbock, I met a TX State Trooper and he said: "92 in a 65." The FJR was just cruising along and I don't use an RD anymore but try to "pay attention" -- still..., out in the BFE, attention can lapse.

Anyway, he said: "If I give you a warning, will you slow her down?" I said, "Yes Sir."

92's not too big a deal Out West...

 

[64Y80]

I believe the radar detector does help prevent tickets. In my area they will put up one of those, ah..., bill boards that have radar and tell you the speed your driving as you approach it. I've seen how much trouble it has acquiring my bike as I approach, it will jump all over on readout until I'm fairly close. My detector was warning me well before it settled down, and in most cases warned me before I ever saw it. I should say that I prefer not to speed, alone on the road I'm doing no more than the speed limit, however I'm rarely alone on the highway and I believe in keeping up with traffic flow. Speeders don't cause accidents any more than slow drivers cause accidents, the problem is when you mix the two together. The reason I use a detector is I like to watch the people watching me. Too often I heard about or seen or been the victim of singling out. By that I mean traffic is flowing above the posted speed and the officer chooses a motorist to make a example of. I don't like being made an example.

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Here are some interesting findings:

"Conclusion : Speeding isn't the problem. They should spend more time and resources banning cellphones and arresting drivers for drunk and drugged driving - all major causes of accidents as supported by dozens of reports. But speeding remains the lowest fruit in the tree and consequently the easiest one to pick, even though it's the single least responsible line item for the cause of accidents.

https://www.carbibles.com/speeding_facts.html "

"What Causes Car Accidents?Four factors contribute to the vast majority of collisions. In ascending order they are:

Equipment Failure

Roadway Design

Poor Roadway Maintenance

Driver Behavior"

https://www.smartmotorist.com/traffic-and-safety-guideline/what-causes-car-accidents.html

"Slow Drivers are the Biggest Frustration for UK Drivers :"Slow drivers need to be taken as seriously as motorists caught speeding. Findings confirm they are a constant source of anxiety on UK roads and responsible for a large amount of accidents each year." https://www.wgem.com/story/15114148/confusedcom-reveals-slow-drivers-are-the-biggest-frustration-for-uk-drivers?clienttype=printable

"German Autobahns...motorways shows that the German rate, while 27% lower than the US rate"

https://www.scienceservingsociety.com/ts/text/ch09.htm

So to answer the question, YES, when you consider a Biker has to keep all of the above in focus all while watching who is not only in front, beside, and behind, an RD makes sense and Speed is One of the Tools in our Arsenal of Defense to Stay Safe. ...and this is the Mantra the Police tell you when they pull you over...this is for Your Safety...

 

[Checkswrecks]

Here are some interesting findings:

"Conclusion : Speeding isn't the problem. They should spend more time and resources banning cellphones and arresting drivers for drunk and drugged driving - all major causes of accidents as supported by dozens of reports. But speeding remains the lowest fruit in the tree and consequently the easiest one to pick, even though it's the single least responsible line item for the cause of accidents.

https://www.carbibles.com/speeding_facts.html "

"What Causes Car Accidents?Four factors contribute to the vast majority of collisions. In ascending order they are:

Equipment Failure

Roadway Design

Poor Roadway Maintenance

Driver Behavior"

https://www.smartmotorist.com/traffic-and-safety-guideline/what-causes-car-accidents.html

"Slow Drivers are the Biggest Frustration for UK Drivers :"Slow drivers need to be taken as seriously as motorists caught speeding. Findings confirm they are a constant source of anxiety on UK roads and responsible for a large amount of accidents each year." https://www.wgem.com/story/15114148/confusedcom-reveals-slow-drivers-are-the-biggest-frustration-for-uk-drivers?clienttype=printable

"German Autobahns...motorways shows that the German rate, while 27% lower than the US rate"

https://www.scienceservingsociety.com/ts/text/ch09.htm

So to answer the question, YES, when you consider a Biker has to keep all of the above in focus all while watching who is not only in front, beside, and behind, an RD makes sense and Speed is One of the Tools in our Arsenal of Defense to Stay Safe. ...and this is the Mantra the Police tell you when they pull you over...this is for Your Safety...

No offense HiYo, but the news took too much out of context for these. For example, the Germans place a very hard line on training and punishment for violations that Americans wouldn't put up with. They drive faster on the autobahn but compensate through much stricter control over the drivers.

I remember the news stretching the first citation, wich came from a 2008 study and the newsies missed the difference between accidents overall and the fatal ones. The newsies also dissected the data to the 5% number shown in the post above, but then missed the report's context statements, such as: "In addition, about 34 percent of the critical reasons attributed to the driver were decision errors (driving aggressively, driving too fast, etc.) and 10 percent were performance errors (overcompensation, improper directional control, etc.)."

That said/written, I agree with the "watching who is not only in front, beside, and behind... and Speed is One of the Tools in our Arsenal of Defense to Stay Safe" summary in your last line.

Checks

 

[innateone]

I believe that a good RD is essential. They even do work with laser if there are cars in front of you...or other bikes I recommend a Beltronics STi as they are the only undetectable detector. Works well in those unconstitutional "entrapment" state and country. In theory of course Mine has personally saved me about four or five direct instances where I know I would have gotten a ticket...incluing one n rural WV where I could not see him at all. It is part of a technique incorporated with observation, that will save you points, money, and time

 

[Nitro]

I gave up on them years ago. "Situational awareness" works better for me.

 

[Patriot]

I just ordered a 2nd Gen Adaptiv TPX

The decision came after they offered a trade in on my old one for $75 credit

I'll post a report in a couple months

 

[RPrice]

Well, I just picked up an Escort 8500 x50 for a good deal and got it mounted on the bike with audio into the Sena. I've been testing it out for a couple days in the cage, and so far, it seems to work well. I picked up a towny a good ways ahead, with several hills between us blaring his KA band. I am also stunned at how little of speed enforcement there is in Northern Colorado. This thing is defintely a good education on how the leo's work around here. CSP seems to just leave their KA band blaring all the time if they are patroling highways vs interstates, haven't picked up a laser hit yet. I pass threw three little farming communities on my commute everyday, and it is very valuable to know that one of them uses instant on almost all the time(but they aren't conservative, very easy to pick up well in advance), and the other two just leave them blaring. So far, I'm liking it, although I haven't been pushing my luck, just learning the detector and habits of the local leo's. Tomorrow will be my first long ride with it on the bike, so we'll see how it works in the mountains.

One should be careful "in the mountains" as coming around fairly tight turns, or over hills, your detector typically will just let you know that the trooper caught you! Even if he's leaving it "blaring" all the time. The best thing to do in those environments is slow down to whatever the local LEO's tolerate, and around here that's about 10 mph over.. Where the detector really shines is when there is heavy to medium traffic on relatively straight stretches of road and the LEO is "shooting" folks ahead of you, which you'll almost always detect before you're the target!

Typically, the heavier the traffic, the safer you'll be, unless the trooper is real good at estimating speed of oncoming traffic and only "shoots" the ones he estimates are speeding.

I do a lot of riding on very lightly traveled highways in UT and NV. I can really "make time" on these roads, but I always slow down when cresting hills and riding turns. If I see a vehicle coming in the distance, especially if it's the color of the state trooper vehicles, I immediately slow down to at least 10 over. I also hit the brakes hard if I get a warning and I don't see anything. Amazing where those guys can hide!

My detector, a Passport 9500 ix does a great job!! But if I'm not paying attention to what's going on around me, I can and do "get whacked". Like the the day last July I'd rode 700+ miles one day and was only 5 minutes from my house. I was tired, cruising along, just wanting to get off the bike, and I was not paying attention to the string of cars approaching, one of which had a big ol' light bar on top!! I also wasn't paying attention to my speed. This sheriff did the "instant on" and got me. The detector just told me I'd been caught. Fortunately, he let me go with a warning. He told me I was doing 80 in a 65, I actually had no idea at the time. I got lucky, and probably by being courteous and respectful to the officer, he let me off.

I'm betting you'll really like that Escort!! Good Luck