I grew up in Virginia, one of the few places where radar detectors are verboten, so I never gave them much thought. But then when non-Virginians find out that the devices are illegal in Virginia, they are aghast at our police state (though it's more than just a law about radar detectors that makes it seem that way). But while I've long since moved away from my home state, I haven't noticed too many non-Virginia cars that have radar detectors. Are they really that popular to have? Or are they just well-hidden? Do people stick them in a glove compartment when they park?
I think they were a fad in many places. I've known several people that had them and they say that the devices only "work" in the narrowest sense of the term. Frequently picking up "police radars" that are in fact not anywhere remotely near the detector and on the other hand not detecting some at all in close proximity.
I really want a radar detector. Oh, wait, it's not 1986. No, I don't. Actually, the last speeding ticket I got was about 20 years ago. I earned it. And it was not necessary to clock me on radar to see that I was over the limit. Nowadays, I just kinda drive the speed limit and/or with the flow of traffic and that seems to be working in terms of not getting tickets. If I lived in an area where radar was being used for revenue collection, I might think differently.
Yep. Waze saved me a ticket on the Turnpike to LegoLand this past fall. I was speeding like everyone else, and as I came upon a section of the road my Waze program lit off like 20 police icons. I said "HOLY SHIT!!" and I immediately slowed down to just under the speed limit. We all know there are parts of the highways that go up and over other roads like a little hill so when I got to the top of the hill and looked down I saw 15 Florida State Troopers at the bottom and several Troopers further down the road with their prey. They were snatching people speeding as they came over that hill because you could not see them until it was too late. It was a spectacular speed trap but thanks to someone else driving the route before me and using Waze I wasn't trapped.
My recent experiences with police have hit my wallet HARD so I have no love for them. That said, I will give credit to the cop who figured out an AWESOME ambush site where one of the entrances to my subdivision meets the main road. You can't see him until you turn off the main road into the neighborhood, but he has two directions to radar cars speeding over hills into the lower elevation he is parked. So he can pull you over to ticket you in a safe place, then scoot back to his ambush point. BUT.....will he ticket his fellow LEO's when they pull into the neighborhood? We have a shitload from a variety of agencies including the GBI agents living in my neighborhood. Could be interesting.
I'm still not sure why states can make detectors illegal. Those are public airwaves after all and they're just listening to what is being publicly broadcasted. You know if the shoe was on the other foot the NSA or some police department would make up excuses as to why their listening isn't illegal.
I found Legoland to be for reeeeeaaaaaaaalllllllllyyyyy little kids and all of the adults were bored out of their mind. Still, it's nice to save money if you're taking a little kid there.
Back in the 80s and until the mid 90s I wouldn't go anywhere with out my radar detector. Then two things happened. Instant on radar guns and they upped the speed limit on the interstates. So now my normal rate of speed keeps me in the pack.
The instant on guns are the big reason these aren't used, like Frontline said (I didn't know that's what they were called). However, with networked/social media driven apps available, there isn't a reason to get a speeding ticket anymore unless everyone is just lazy. That said, I got a ticket the other day for putting my seat belt on as I turned out of a parking lot. I know that if I hadn't put it on, the officer wouldn't have seen me - my hand motion attracted his attention. Fricker.
