[sci.electronics] Radar Detectors can give you a ticket!

jliu@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Dear John.) (02/03/90)

Having a radar detector can sometimes GIVE you a ticket. I was driving along
I-80 in Pennsylvania when a cop pulled me over. I was doing 70 at the time in
a 55 mph zone. Apparently, he had timed me visually, so my radar detector did
not pick him up. He was all ready to give me a warning, when he bent over and
saw my radar detector. Poof!! I called me a speeder, and I my bank account
decreased by $122.50. The sad thing was, I really was not intentionally
speeding.

The moral of the story is: unless you are willing to accept the consequences
of owning a radar detector, don't get one!

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John. C. Liu                |  Some are born great, some achieve greatness,
University of Pennsylvania  |     and some don't give a damn! 
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rwb@vi.ri.cmu.edu (Bob Berger) (02/03/90)

That's why I use a remote mount unit, with the control box mounted
in an inconspicous location.

forbes@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Jeff Forbes) (02/04/90)

In article <19916@netnews.upenn.edu> jliu@eniac.seas.upenn.edu.UUCP (Dear John.) writes:
>
>The moral of the story is: unless you are willing to accept the consequences
>of owning a radar detector, don't get one!

No. The moral of the story is to hide your radar detector if you get pulled
over.

	Jeff

rjd@dell.dell.com (Randall J. Davis) (02/06/90)

In article <19916@netnews.upenn.edu> jliu@eniac.seas.upenn.edu.UUCP (Dear John.) writes:
[Story where officer gave him a ticket for something like 4-over because he saw
 a radar detector omitted ]
|The moral of the story is: unless you are willing to accept the consequences
|of owning a radar detector, don't get one!

   True, but with a little of thought, even that should not be a problem:
First, always mount a detector so it is not visible outside the car if
possible and can be put away without the officer seeing you doing it.

  There are two easy ways to do this - one, that I presently employ,
is to mount a permanant remote-mount detector in your car and disguise the
control box so an officer looking in the car will not notice it as being such.
The Cobra RD-5110 is ideal for this, and I like it better than my Passport
(works better for $95 less).

   The second method, usable with visor/windshield mount detectors is to mount
it so *you* block it from being seen from behind.   While I still used my
Passport, I simply put it on the visor in front of my head.  I am tall enough
that you cannot see the detector from behind because my head blocks the view.
If you are pulled over, simply reach up with your hands in front of your body
before the officer is close enough to see what you are doing, and simply pull
the detector down and put it under your seat (always route the power wire in
the trim).   I was pulled over once, and this method worked fine - all I got
was a verbal warning (concerning rail-road tracks, the train was stopped about
a half mile a way and was triggering the lights when I decided to quit waiting
for it).

  Yep, you normally WILL NOT get a simple warning if the officer sees that you
use a radar detector.  If they can get you for one over the limit - you're
caught.

   Note: responses directed to rec.autos, where this belongs.

Randy Davis						UUCP: dell.dell.com!rjd

brian@ucsd.Edu (Brian Kantor) (02/06/90)

If you reach under your seat to stow your radar detector when the
officer pulls you over, you had damn well better hang both your hands
out the window before he approaches your car or you will be shot.

It's also not a bad idea to flip your wallet up onto the dashboard so
that you can reach it without your hands going out of his view for an
instant.

If it's dark, turn on the dome light too.

And for God's sake, don't make any quick moves.  Remember that you are
dealing with a nervous individual who knows that he can kill you and
won't be prosecuted for it, so he's going to take that option if you do
ANYTHING that looks like it might be endangering him.
	- Brian