Radar Detectors

Someone asked me about radar detectors. I’ve actually never gotten one, but have looked over the years, but haven’t had the patience to use them, plus I don’t go fast too much. That being said, the state of the art has really improved. “007radardetectors.com”:http://www.007radardetectors.com/tests.htm runs an annual test and while expensive at $400-500, the very best ones really do a pretty good job. “Laserveil.com”:http://www.laserveil.com/escort/passport/9500i/ also does a nice job.

The main ones to consider are from the big three, Escort, Bel and Valentine that have been constant favorites:

* “Escort Passport 9500i”:http://www.007radardetectors.com/escort_9500i.htm. This one is $450 and it has a GPS built in so it remembers where false signals are. Since garage door openers and motion sensors use the same frequencies as police radar, getting false signals is a big problem. Its accurate as well. The main drawback is that it isn’t completely stealth, the police have something called VG-2 that can detect emissions that radar detectors make. In some states like Virginia, it is illegal to have radar detectors. It is also heavy at 10 ounces. It doesn’t score a perfect on many things, but is very highly rated.
* “Bel STi Driver”:http://www.007radardetectors.com/bel_sti_driver.htm. This has nearly the best sensitivity of all of them and is completely stealth. It is also $450.
* “Valentine One”:http://www.007radardetectors.com/valentine_radar.htm has the best sensitivity of them all, but it is a matter of degrees.

Finally thanks to the Internet, there is even a site that tracks speed traps called “speedtrap.org”:http://www.speedtrap.org/speedtraps/ste_city.asp?state=WA

And with all those lasers out there, all kinds of folks are selling IR blocking paint like “veil”:http://laserveil.com that makes it harder for a laser to see the reflective parts of a car like the headlamps. I have no idea if these work though.