Radar Detectors

Radar detectors sometimes get a bad rap. While none of us enjoy the prospect of a speeding ticket, in a way, with radar detectors we are cheating the system. Speeds are monitored to keep the public safe. No matter how you feel about the policy, and whether it could be enacted in another manner, speed limits are there to protect you, your father, your neighbor, and millions of other people you have no relationship with. With that said however, the staunchest proponents of radar detectors will quickly point out that they use the detector to know when to slow down (due to police presence), and not to necessarily speed excessively.

Without launching into a grand debate, lots of folks use radar detectors responsibly and the technology underpinning them is ever evolving. In fact, a radar detector with four-year-old technology likely won’t do the trick today. You run the risk of false alarms, which increases the risk of a ticket, or worse, an accident. Forbes embarked on a study a couple years back and discovered that one speeding ticket can increase your insurance premium by as much as 22%. If you think of radar detectors in this manner, they are insurance against even higher insurance premiums.

There are some important criteria to take into consideration before purchasing a detector. First is the antenna. Not all detectors use two antennas, but two are better. Second is the range. A great website that provides data on ranges is Radartest.com. The larger the range the better! GPS is another important component to all this. Photo enforcement is common, so a GPS detector that can identify and warn against red light camera presence is critical, especially living in a large city. And finally, laser jammers. These are also known as “shifters.” Most radar detectors depend on the cars in front of you to be targeted (by a laser) in order to inform you of a police radar presence. But if no cars are in front of you, a laser shifter is needed.

One of the best detectors you can purchase in terms of price for quality is the Uniden R3DSP Detector with GPS. The pros of this detector are exceptional range performance, red light camera alerts, and a sleek OLED display. Some have complained that although sleek, the display is a bit small, but outside of that, online commentaries have been mostly positive. Some radar detectors are designed to protect against radar surveillance in general, while others are focused intently on police radars. If you’ve got your eye on the latter, the Escort Passport 9500xi Enhanced Detector is a smart choice. Remember the laser jammers? Well, the reason the 9500xi is priced so high is because jammers are included. There are few detectors as accurate as this one from Escort, but again, don’t have a heart-attack when you see the price tag.

Lastly, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that radar detectors are illegal in some states. For example, Washington D.C., Virginia and throughout U.S. Military bases, using detectors are illegal and will be met with hefty fines. These laws can change year to year, so it is important to stay up-to-date on what is going on in your specific state. The worst would be a combination of a speeding ticket and an illegal detector fine.