I want to clarify a few things.

Can a trooper take your speed with RADAR while moving?
I ask this because I see troopers with radars on the rear window a lot.

I am pretty sure he cannot LASER me while moving. Can he?


Now. Are laser detectors illegal?

I have a $250 Cobra that says it has Laser Detector but I have heard from people
that laser detectors are illegal and it cant be true that my radar detector catches laser.

I thought it was only LASER JAMMERS that were illegal.

What kind of radar detector do you own?
How much $$ was it?
Is it a POS?

As far as I know only radar jammers are illegal across the US, while radar detectors are only illegal in select states, i believe only around Washington, DC, but I'm not 100% sure. In my opinion they are useless, unless you want to shell out $500 for a top of the line model. The Cobras simply do not alert you early enough to be of any use. I had a $150 on and I could clearly see the cop as it started to beep, but I already started braking. Plus it liked to alert me of the dangerous Jewel and Walgreen automatic doors in my area. :grin: I thought Cobra has a policy where they would pay your ticket? :whistling:

Dear dcj,

What do the laws of New York say? Radar and Laser detectors are illegal in several municipalities including northern Virgina. You are guilty just having a radar detector in the driver compartment of the car whether actual use can be proven or not.

There are lots of POS detectors on the market that give false positives, false negatives, or late alarm. Laser detectors are almost useless in that a well placed ambush position will nail you before you can slow below the posted speed. Of course, you could get a sloppy cop who is content to pull over the dumb drivers. almost like the lion on Discovery channel who is content with the slowest gazelle.

See
http://www.beltronics.com/
http://www.valentine1.com/

Valentine and Beltronics are constantly battling for the best detector on the market. You get what you pay for.

Byron

Yes, radar works front and back in motion and stationary! ( I know, I've used them) Laser is usually stationary, but who knows with the lastest and greatest models. Radar detectors are illegal only in certain states and Canada. Radar jammers are illegal everywhere!
:grin: I have a Cobra Radar/Laser detector that works well. :grin:
The exception is that with today's instance on radars and laser machine, once your detector goes off your already too late. Your only hope is that they are targeting the guy in front of you first. :banana:

This post has been edited by willsboattail: Jul 3 2007, 01:20 PM

In the US, radar/laser detectors are only illegal in DC and VA. Radar detectors are illegal in all states for commercial truck drivers. Some states (not sure which ones) make it illegal to mount anything to your windshield, making it difficult to properly mount a radar detector for maximum detection capability.

Most, if not all, radar detectors have laser detection capability as well. However, as previously stated, once you receive a laser alert it is usually too late (unless they aren't targetting your vehicle).

Radar can be used by a trooper while in motion. Laser requires that the trooper be stationary. Here in Maryland, police officers/troopers typically set-up a laser trap on the shoulder at the bottom of a hill or around a slight bend so that drivers have little or no opportunity to slow down before seeing the officer/trooper. Most of the time the officer/trooper will keep their trunk lid up so that the lights on their patrol car can't be seen by oncoming traffic. Once a speeder has been identified the officer steps out into oncoming traffic to direct the offending vehicle to pull over. However, this practice of "stepping out" has been suspended recently due to the death of a Howard County police officer that was struck and killed by a speeding vehicle that he was trying to pull over.

Another top radar detector company is Escort (http://www.escortradar.com/). Most Escort and Beltronics detectors (with a few exceptions) are virtually the same in terms of technology as they are both owned by the same company.

This post has been edited by tarheelblue96: Jul 3 2007, 01:55 PM

Valentine One anyone?... Love that thing.... always works

http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/

You can bet the Electronic manufactures will fight that one with much$$$$

laser detectors are useless
laser are not always on like the old radar guns
they point and shoot you
if you detector goes off guess what
its to late to do anything cause they just shot you with it
by some off chance that you catch a bounce off someone else is the only way
that you might get lucky with one

:bwekk: geeeeeee, I think that was clearly stated in the last couple posts :innocent:

yea i clearly stated it
thanks for pointing that out

Radar jammers are illegal. Laser jammers are not illegal, and that is coming straight from the mouth of the FCC. Not sure about anywhere outside the US though. And as others have said the cops can be moving when using radar but must be stationary when using laser. Active laser jammers, such as the Blinder series, work very well. It basically causes a --- reading on the laser gun. These are pretty expensive though. The absorbent coatings are said to work pretty well, as are the laser shields that go over your plates (when shooting laser they usually have to aim at a place like your front plate or headlight housing).

I currently own a Valentine 1, and have owned a few in the past as well. I've also owned up-teen other makes and models. The V1 is the best, in my book, for a number of reasons.

1. The firmware is upgradeable.
2. It not only tells you which direction the radar is coming from but also how many of them and which one is the one to worry about.
3. Lots of accessories and a metal casing (aluminum or magnesium).
4. Fully user programmable by the user - if you're a little brave.
5. etc.

I also have the concealed display on mine so nobody can see that it's one, especially people behind me.

You get what you pay for and I would not recommend any of the cheap ones. Go with either a V1 or, as mentioned, a Bel. I had a friend at the office get one of the top of the line Bels and kept it for about three days and returned it and got a V1.

Something else to keep in mind, V1s are sold only by them - you won't find them in stores anywhere. Quite a few places that really push other models often try and bash the V1 because they are not allowed to sell it.

My two cents. Now I'm moving this topic since it has nothing to do with the Sonata.

I have been hit with laser a number of times and my Passport 8500 dutifully tells me I have just been screwed... :grin: ... seriously, laser is stationary at this time but, unless you get splash over from a car ahead of you, gets your speed instantly. Radar, on the other hand is mobile and can get you coming and going.. a good radar detector can help you if you aren't driving like an idiot... up to 10 mph over, you can usually get slowed down without hitting the front bumper on the street...

Ray :beer:

I'm running an Escort X50 and the thing amazes me all the time. I've never even come close to being tagged by radar. However...I have been bagged twice by laser. That had me looking at laser jammers for the past couple of years. Every time I get the urge to look at them again, I run through the scenario of how 99% of the public do not have jammers and they don't get tickets. Do I really need to drop $400 - $500 on a laser jammer just so that I can whiz through the areas that are known laser traps, taking the chance that my jammer will keep me safe. What if I get bagged anyway? That would really **** me off.
The best advice...is to watch the traffic around you. If you're seeing brake lights from the cars ahead of you...there's a reason for it. All I know, is that I LOVE my X50.

Check out this site, and browse through the posts over there. You find answers to all the questions that you could ever want to ask.

i seeee.

wow lots of responses

so I guess its not true that laser detectors just go off for nod amn reason ion my cobra.


wowza thanks for the input

I have noted that the laser detector goes off when I am sitting at one of our @#%%^ Red Light camera intersections. It is pretty annoying but tells me that they use laser to operate the red light cameras... hmmm...

Ray :beer:

While on the subject of lasers, one thing I forgot to mention. Quite a few of the Infiniti SUVs, some of their cars, and some high-end Acuras are now coming with laser cruise control as an option. Those will DEFINITELY set off your laser detector. Happens to me a few times a week ... the V1 will start brapping out a laser alert and I look and see one of those **** Infiniti SUVs coming towards me - never fails.

So if anyone thinks their detector is falsing on laser look for one of the Infinitis next time it happens.

I also forgot to give props to Escort. I owned a few of the original ones back in the early 80s. I couldn't even find a picture of it but it was BIG, about 6 inches wide x 7 inches long and about two inches thick. No digital anything, it had the VU meter on the front. Also owned an original Passport that I really liked.