| Doom4life |
I have two questions:
A) What are the majority (And your personal) view on the use of radar detectors (The legal kind). I have one, and dont overly speed (When I do, its the flow of traffic, with is usually 10km/h over the posted limit).
I ask this, since during the summer, I was driving around one of the local beachfront towns (Just installed new pads, and since I knew that with the crappy old ones, they would squeel halfway into the route that I took) I was the only car on the road for blocks (It was 11pm on a Sunday)... a few blocks later, this 5.0l blew past me. So I am doing 5km/h over the sped limit, when I noticed a white car come flying up to me (I had the detector up, and it is visible from behind me)... The first instinct, was to slow down to the posted limit, as I was watching my speed.. I was making quick glances at the car behind me... I than realized it was a marked squad car.... He was tailgating me for six blocks... Until I came to the end of the road, which came to a three way stop... Making sure to do a complete stop, I Turned left, which he proceeded to do. By now, he was following me for six blocks... Half a block later, he pulled me over.. Asking for my license.... registration.. anything to drink/smoke/drugs (Flashing his flashlight in my face). Than he started drilling me on what I was doing... Eventually he let me off.. with no reason why he originally pulled me over.
I'm just curious if police officers get agressive if they see a vehicle with a radar detector.
B) What about stop light action... Would you get a citation from a quick boot up to the speed limit, with no tire smoke/squeeling, etc. I always find it fun to do 0-70km/h runs (Posted speed limit) from a stoplight, without squeeling the tires... However, if there are any cars.. I immediatly abort. |
|
|
| Markis |
| Welcome to the forums Doom4life :wavey: |
|
|
| Doom4life |
Thanks! :D
Although this thread was originally a reply in the Ask Your Local Law Enforcement thread, anyone can post with experiences (Though I am most interested in what the local resident RCMP officer says, as he knows the laws).
Personally, I love having a radar detector... People ask me... has it saved you? I always sayd No! Because I dont overly speed. Still... it is nice to know if radar is being used in the area (Cant wait to take it with me when I go to Calgary this summer and se how it does against MultiNova's)
As for the stop light action.... I have a few rules that I apply to myself:
Dont speed
Dont spin/squeel the tires
Dont do anything dangerous
Dont do anything if there is a vehicle between you and the open road
I tell all my friends.... IF you want to race me, thats fine, but I only go to the speed limit.... If you want to go faster, name a date at the race track (Will never street race) |
|
|
| albertarc |
quote:
Originally posted by Doom4life@Jan 4 2003, 01:07 PM
I'm just curious if police officers get agressive if they see a vehicle with a radar detector.
What about stop light action... Would you get a citation from a quick boot up to the speed limit, with no tire smoke/squeeling, etc. I always find it fun to do 0-70km/h runs (Posted speed limit) from a stoplight, without squeeling the tires... However, if there are any cars.. I immediatly abort.
Let's start w/ your first question: I actually get a kick out of people w/ radar detectors. Seeing a detector doesn't change the outcome of the vehicle stop as far as I'm concerned. I will sometimes kid the driver that it's time to buy a new one etc. The radar detectors can definitely assist the driver should there be a high volume of traffic & you're a ways back; however, the laser detector will usually just warn you to stop because the officer is already starting to write the ticket. There are companies that guarantee their detectors to the point that if you receive a ticket they will pay it for you. I'm not quite sure what to say to that except, will they take away the demerits too??? One thing to keep in mind ... radar / laser detectors won't save you should the nice little plane be in the sky w/ a stop watch!!
Question #2: as long as you don't spin, sqeal or smoke your tires, lose control, spray gravel, speed, make excessive noise, tailgate (let's see is there anything I've forgot?) I can't see why you'd be stopped. There's a neat little rule I tell drivers they should live by ... don't draw attention to yourself & you shouldn't be bothered. For some officers however drawing attention could be as simple as having wide tires & being 16 years old. I had stated in one or two previous discussions on this site that I believe in education before enforcement ... believe it or not my type of education applies to police officers as well!!
Jimbo :P |
|
|
| chowder |
| Jim, I have a crap stock tires and my tires always squeel. I know I should get new tires if they are crap but I want to wear out stock tires first. Oh well. Is there anything I can do about besides trying to give her less gas when I left off the clutch. This is in an RSX Type-S. |
|
|
| albertarc |
quote:
Originally posted by chowder@Jan 5 2003, 10:34 AM
I have a crap stock tires and my tires always squeel.
Hi chowder;
I'll relate a little story. When I was 16 I had a 1978 Ford F150 pickup w/ a 460 automatic in it. I bought a set of Firestone ATX 235 / 75R 15 tires (you know the ones in the recall) & had found out that you could squeal them by just looking at them. Normal cornering caused them to squeal as did braking on wet pavement (I mean w/ 3" of water laying on it!!). Some softer rubber compound tires are notorious for squealing & normally it's not something I would worry about. As a police officer if I hear squealing I try to locate the noise & see how long it lasts etc. If it last for 5 seconds, well ... problem. Once again I would hope if an officer should hear you he would use some common sense; however, as you know that your tires are noisy maybe a little less on the gas is in order.
Jimbo :fingersx: |
|
|
| ManHunter |
quote:
Originally posted by Doom4life@Jan 4 2003, 02:07 PM
I ask this, since during the summer, I was driving around one of the local beachfront towns (Just installed new pads, and since I knew that with the crappy old ones, they would squeel halfway into the route that I took) I was the only car on the road for blocks (It was 11pm on a Sunday)... a few blocks later, this 5.0l blew past me. So I am doing 5km/h over the sped limit, when I noticed a white car come flying up to me (I had the detector up, and it is visible from behind me)... The first instinct, was to slow down to the posted limit, as I was watching my speed.. I was making quick glances at the car behind me... I than realized it was a marked squad car.... He was tailgating me for six blocks... Until I came to the end of the road, which came to a three way stop... Making sure to do a complete stop, I Turned left, which he proceeded to do. By now, he was following me for six blocks... Half a block later, he pulled me over.. Asking for my license.... registration.. anything to drink/smoke/drugs (Flashing his flashlight in my face). Than he started drilling me on what I was doing... Eventually he let me off.. with no reason why he originally pulled me over.
Welcome to v8less!
Of course, I'd guess the officer confused your car with the mustang. That's probably why you got the speech.
MH |
|
|
| redbaron303 |
quote:
Originally posted by albertarc@Jan 5 2003, 10:16 AM
Let's start w/ your first question: I actually get a kick out of people w/ radar detectors. Seeing a detector doesn't change the outcome of the vehicle stop as far as I'm concerned. I will sometimes kid the driver that it's time to buy a new one etc. The radar detectors can definitely assist the driver should there be a high volume of traffic & you're a ways back; however, the laser detector will usually just warn you to stop because the officer is already starting to write the ticket. There are companies that guarantee their detectors to the point that if you receive a ticket they will pay it for you. I'm not quite sure what to say to that except, will they take away the demerits too??? One thing to keep in mind ... radar / laser detectors won't save you should the nice little plane be in the sky w/ a stop watch!!
That airplane stop watch thing? What if you have two similar cars on the road when the squad car goes to stop the offender?! How does a stopwatch and airplane prove that you were speading... aside the basic rules of physics..... do they video tape or what?! That would boggle my mind getting stopped and not having any radar or laser to detect speed, I would think that kind of "evidence" would be inadmissable in court because of possible human error in timing?! |
|
|
| RF134A |
quote:
Originally posted by inglewood@Jan 5 2003, 08:21 PM
quote:
Originally posted by redbaron303@Jan 5 2003, 07:31 PM
...How does a stopwatch and airplane prove that you were speading... aside the basic rules of physics..... do they video tape or what?! That would boggle my mind getting stopped and not having any radar or laser to detect speed, I would think that kind of "evidence" would be inadmissable in court because of possible human error in timing?!
In any trial, the prosecution must establish what they call a prima facie (spelling?) case, which means there are no gray areas in setting a conviction, in other words, you're guilty beyong a reasonable doubt. In any trial, there will always be human error, and as in such there will be in any form of speed enforcement as well. When targeting a car with LIDAR (also known as laser radar), for the most accurate reading, the vehicle must be targeted at an exactly perpendicular angle. If the angle is slightly less, the reading may be off slightly, however, it will not be enough to give reason that a false speed was recorded. In fact, that error is considered almost negligable unless the officer was targeting the car from the side in which case he'll get a reading of zero. This also applies to radar. However, most aircraft patrols don't use radar to detect speed, since it is not considered very effective and accurate. The most common method, as you (redbaron303) mentioned, is to do it the old-fashioned way: by timing the target going through a known distance. Ah, good old physics. A vehicle travelling at 100 kmh will cover 27.78 metres in one second. Depending on the distance the vehicle is being timed, the error can vary. Over a shorter distance you can have an error of +/- 10 kmh for a timing error of 0.5 seconds. However timing the vehicle over a greater distance dramatically reduces the error. Do the math. If you're fighting this type of ticket in court, don't bother attacking the accuracy of the stopwatch. Stopwatches have recieved judicial notice, and they don't need certification either. Give a narcoleptic chimp a stopwatch and he can push the buttons, doesn't take much intelligence.
However, in any proceedings where more than one officer was involved in the collection of evidence, they must all be present at the trial, remember prima facie must be established. So this can work for you, if not all of them can show up, but don't count on that, because that rarely happens. Anyhow, I hope this bit of information has helped.
The Next Jacques B)
Hey! Guess what those yellow lines every 400m (or so...) on the highway are for? They're for that spyplane with the mountie and a stopwatch... It takes 14.4 seconds to go 400m at 100km/h so if you cover the lines in less than that, you are obviously speeding. You can probably argue .5 seconds off making for a threshold time of 13.9s or 103.6km/h.
Maybe the lines are further apart, some go measure them... Oh yeah, they are also present on Groat Road. You can't accurately measure speed on a curve using a lidar gun but that stop watch doesn't lie.
Man, I must be bored... :( :blink: |
|
|
| redbaron303 |
| What yellow lines?! I've only seen the dividing lines.... I must be blind :blink: |
|
|
| Doom4life |
Wow thanks Jim for answering... Definatly interesting to get a police officers view on seeing a car with a radar detector.
Like I said, I don't use it to speed.. just to let me know of nearby police activity (Infact.. I have been high/lo beam flashed doing 30km/h thru a playground zone by a number of fine folks tailgatng me.. obviously reading the detector) |
|
|
| RF134A |
quote:
Originally posted by redbaron303@Jan 5 2003, 10:59 PM
What yellow lines?! I've only seen the dividing lines.... I must be blind :blink:
The solid yellow lines that run across ALL the lanes on the highway are for speed measurement. The ones on Groat are white... but I can't tell right now since it's covered in dirt and sand... |
|
|
|
