Laser / Radar Detector - Are they worth it?

ainran

Got caught going 60 in a 40 in Naas on Thursday, it was a lovely straight road, 10pm at night, no traffic/houses/schools in the area. As you can imagine I'm rightly pi**ed off about it, got 2 Points as a result! Anyhow I do a lot of driving, its part of my job and I'm thinking of getting a Laser / Radar Detector.

Does anyone else have one?

Are they any good? Are they legal?

I believe that you can get ones that react and Jam the signal from a gun, Are they legal?

I know they can get expensive so what should I look for> are all the features worth it?


p.s. No evangelists, I know its wrong to speed, I'm not an idiot, and no, I also know that one of these devices is not an excuse to speed.

Hagar

They are illegal in Ireland. If you are found using one to avoid a radar trap you will be done.

WICKL0W

......and against the rules of the charter

WillieStroker

Ok, so they are illegal, I think you can get ones that are hidden in the dash.

Do they work well?

Lex Luthor

I had one...bought it in the states...sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. One day, driving on a dual carraigeway in Cork, doing 48mph in a 40mph zone....needless to say it didn't work...got pulled over, didn't get the unit off the dash in time & Mr. Plod saw it & confiscated it.

Total cost:
€80 fine
2 points
Day in court with €332 solicitor charge & €300 fine for posession.

So my advice would be to buy one in this country or up the North or UK so you know it WILL work here all the time and get one thats concealed and doesn't sit on the dash.

Johnny Storm

ainran wrote:

...
I believe that you can get ones that react and Jam the signal from a gun, ...
.

I have no experience of them, although in theory I wouldn't mind having one. BUT, it seems to me that as soon as your unit jams the cop's laser thingie, he's immediately going to know you have an illegal laser jammer on board?
And therefore if he hasn't had too many donuts that day he'll pull you over for something more serious than speeding?

maidhc

The laser guns are capable of reading your speed from something like half a mile away, so in theory the garda could eat a doughnut while waiting to pull you over. I dont think there is any obvious way to detect a laser which is essentially a beam of light.

Radar is easier to detect, but having a radar detector alone is hardly worth bothering with.

At the moment the best way to avoid getting caught speeding is to drive at an outrageous speed on narrow dangerous roads rather than doing the equivalent speed on a dual carriageway...

Radsl

I have one, it was passed onto me, worth 500 yoyo's. The one I have works really well, even looks out the back window for traps behind me. Doesnt really work well for laser (hairdryers) as your caught if the alarm goes off! unless the beam is reflecting off a car close to you and the detector is seeing a reflection or echo, either way I would slow down. I drive for a living aswell, I cant afford to get points for going a few mph over the limit,the max i'd go is 10mph over the limit anyway, nothing crasy

BigEejit

There is a garage opener available and legal in the UK that works when the car/unit owner pulls into his drive a laser on the garage door fires a signal at the car and the unit on the car sends back a signal and the garage door opens ... a side effect of this is that cops lasers also trigger the unit to send a signal back and it jams them. If you have a garage at home and you fit it the cops cant touch you. The only thing is that the cops will check out people who have them and you will get summonsed if you do not have a garage/receiving unit fitted.

Anan1

BigEejit wrote:

There is a garage opener available and legal in the UK that works when the car/unit owner pulls into his drive a laser on the garage door fires a signal at the car and the unit on the car sends back a signal and the garage door opens ... a side effect of this is that cops lasers also trigger the unit to send a signal back and it jams them. If you have a garage at home and you fit it the cops cant touch you. The only thing is that the cops will check out people who have them and you will get summonsed if you do not have a garage/receiving unit fitted.

This sounds like a unit called the M10 Blinder, available online. It's expensive, but I can tell you that it does work. Apparently the laser guns do jam sometimes anyway, so the Guards will not necessarily be suspicious. A word of warning when ordering though - a friend ordered one online from tha States, and it was seized by customs.

drdre

they are illegal but if you do want to get one get the m10,it has some great reviews on the net, does anyone know how much they are.

Anan1

Around $300. Just bear in mind that there might be problems with customs.

Our man in Havana

Your best bet would be to buy up north. They use the same sort of traps up there. Provided you could hide it well enough you should have no problems.

deputydugs

Lads Lads Lads

Why speed in the first place!

We do our job and cacth a few now and again but in all fairnes by speeding you will only take a few mins off of your trip and it burns more fuel.

Im not saying I dont speed and anyone who says they dont lie. But I know when to and not and know the risks if I do and also the risk on my card when I jucie the beast up.

However stay under 120 kph , 70mph and most members will leave you alone unless directed to do otherwise, but come on do you really need to be doing anything over 115kph. I think not.

And as for the dectors, I will hang anyone's arse out to dry in court if I find one and as for the price of them, well! They dont work. And 1/2 the time we are aiming our gun behind you, not straight at you. Them things are ment for fixed speed traps and anyone in dublin know where they are anyway. Save your money and pay the 80 euro when you get got. And we will get you during your lifetome of driving. One way or another. So dont waste your money and have some sence and drive with care. Remember, Do you want to kill someone else and so you want your family to eat around the next xmas table with you missing.

GET THE POINT! NOT THE POINTS!

skibum

maidhc wrote:

At the moment the best way to avoid getting caught speeding is to drive at an outrageous speed on narrow dangerous roads rather than doing the equivalent speed on a dual carriageway...

Too true :cool:

dahamsta

deputydugs wrote:

GET THE POINT! NOT THE POINTS!

PARROT MARKETING! BELIEVE GUFF!

The OP

WICKL0W wrote:

......and against the rules of the charter

Please go away and let the people talk about fun stuff, Mr. Prude.

Johnny Storm

deputydugs wrote:

... And 1/2 the time we are aiming our gun behind you, not straight at you. ...

why?

Lex Luthor

deputydugs wrote:

Lads Lads Lads

Why speed in the first place!

We do our job and cacth a few now and again but in all fairnes by speeding you will only take a few mins off of your trip and it burns more fuel.

Im not saying I dont speed and anyone who says they dont lie. But I know when to and not and know the risks if I do and also the risk on my card when I jucie the beast up.

However stay under 120 kph , 70mph and most members will leave you alone unless directed to do otherwise, but come on do you really need to be doing anything over 115kph. I think not.

And as for the dectors, I will hang anyone's arse out to dry in court if I find one and as for the price of them, well! They dont work. And 1/2 the time we are aiming our gun behind you, not straight at you. Them things are ment for fixed speed traps and anyone in dublin know where they are anyway. Save your money and pay the 80 euro when you get got. And we will get you during your lifetome of driving. One way or another. So dont waste your money and have some sence and drive with care. Remember, Do you want to kill someone else and so you want your family to eat around the next xmas table with you missing.

GET THE POINT! NOT THE POINTS!

Obviously, english is not on the curriculum in Templemore......:p

dahamsta

Lex Luthor wrote:

Obviously, english is not on the curriculum in Templemore......

Not true. There's an eight week course on the correct Garda pronounciation of the word "vehicle".

Atomic Pineapple

deputydugs wrote:

Lads Lads Lads

Why speed in the first place!

However stay under 120 kph , 70mph and most members will leave you alone unless directed to do otherwise, but come on do you really need to be doing anything over 115kph. I think not.

I think people are more pissed off with the fact that the gardai actually usually set up in towns and areas with speed limits that are generally too low for the area and get some poor motorist who is actually only going a few miles/kilometres over the speed limit and not in realistic terms being a danger to anyone else on the road.

crosstownk

Just don't speed - even if you think the limit is too low.

Deaths on our roads are too high - DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE CARNAGE!

cynos

The shop in finglas that used to sell them opened back up there a few weeks back so Im thinking maybe something changed in the law.
Dont buy a cobra one anyway, they only pick up the gatzo van
buy a snooper s4 or road angel

Savman

www.beatthespeedtrap.co.uk

yes, they do work.

Savman

deputydugs wrote:

Save your money and pay the 80 euro when you get got. And we will get you during your lifetome of driving. One way or another.

Thanks for the reassurance, you're a credit to your country :rolleyes:

deputydugs

Why dont ye grow the f u c k up and realise that speeding causes drastic deaths and to christ I would not whish it on anybody and it is a serious matter. one dead a day on our roads and not becasue of gardai but because people like ye that do not take road saftey serious.

GET THE POINT NOT THE POINTS in other words GET THE POINT OR KILL OR BE KILLED

deputydugs

You say that to the poor people who got killed because a car was not doing the right speed in a built up area and was not able to break in time. The limit is there for a reason not to p i ss the public off.

Educate yourself before you think.

draffodx wrote:

I think people are more pissed off with the fact that the gardai actually usually set up in towns and areas with speed limits that are generally too low for the area and get some poor motorist who is actually only going a few miles/kilometres over the speed limit and not in realistic terms being a danger to anyone else on the road.

Savman

deputydugs wrote:

Why dont ye grow the f u c k up

Yep, a credit to your country.

deputydugs

Savman wrote:

Yep, a credit to your country.

And what are you?

Savman

deputydugs wrote:

And what are you?

One of the many taxpayers you and your buddies have neglected. Your "houlier than thou" attitude would sicken me if it wasnt so comical

deputydugs

Em and I wonder why I have to pay tax 2, maybe to pay my own overtime, mayb not or to protect prats like you but hell, I dont give a rats arse what you think on a board where you can rant and rave and hide behind a keyboard it does not show a shred of pride. Time to get back ta work and HELP PEOPLE. unlike your job


Bye now

Savman wrote:

One of the many taxpayers you and your buddies have neglected. Your "houlier than thou" attitude would sicken me if it wasnt so comical

Savman

Aye you've got pride alright and you make us all proud....sniff...its great to be oirish...*Sinne Fianna Fáil...*

deputydugs wrote:

Em and I wonder why I have to pay tax 2, maybe to pay my own overtime, mayb not or to protect prats like you but hell, I dont give a rats arse what you think on a board where you can rant and rave and hide behind a keyboard it does not show a shred of pride. Time to get back ta work and HELP PEOPLE. unlike your job


Bye now

dahamsta

I see the brainwashing machine in Templemore is working correctly...

VEH-HICK-ULL!
VEH-HICK-ULL!
VEH-HICK-ULL!

SPEEDING KILLS!
SPEEDING KILLS!
SPEEDING KILLS!

VEH-HICK-ULL!
VEH-HICK-ULL!
VEH-HICK-ULL!

maidhc

deputydugs wrote:

Why dont ye grow the f u c k up and realise that speeding causes drastic deaths and to christ I would not whish it on anybody and it is a serious matter. one dead a day on our roads and not becasue of gardai but because people like ye that do not take road saftey serious.

GET THE POINT NOT THE POINTS in other words GET THE POINT OR KILL OR BE KILLED

Saying "speeding kills" is a totally empty statement, you are as well off saying "If you dont eat anything you wont get cancer". What really people have to start referring to is "excessive speed in the circumstance".

Driving at a max 100k on the N8 (Watergrasshill bypass - Cork) and N25 (Midleton to Cork at least + Ballincollig) does NOTHING for road safety. It is just annoying that people in Dub can do 120k on the same standard of road (are we stupid or something?). However if I do the same speed on byroads and boreens I am guaranteed to die. But guess with the Gardaí can be found?

If both the powers than be and the garda stopped ranting about "getting the point" nonsense and actually enforced sensible speed limits people would not feel the need bo buy illegal and largely ineffectual equipment. It is likely people would then respect the road traffic laws, something which at the moment, is impossible for most straight thinking people to do.

Gatster

Time to get back ta work and HELP PEOPLE. unlike your job

You are not superior to other users of this board because of your chosen profession, you're not exactly helping the image of the Garda with this sort statement.

Our man in Havana

If I knew who you were, I would make a complaint against you to the Garda Complaints Board. It's no wonder that ordinary people have little or no respect for the gardai.

Savman

If you read deputydugs previous posts in other threads you'll see one thread where another "member" tells deputydugs he/she shouldn't be posting garbage like this after indentifying him/herself - and judging by the lack of respect or coherency from deputydugs to that "member" I'd say it's a waste of time trying to talk sense into this enlightened person.

Kinda sad that some disillusioned folks in a limp organisation think they're the special ones and dont need to show any kind of reason whatsoever dealing with the public, whether it's online or not.

Great job on the riots btw :rolleyes:

deputydugs

Maybe if the public had a bit of common sense we would not have to enforce it all the time, We can not spend a whole tour of duty with a speed gun in our hand and that is why the traffic corps are there. We have to deal with other police work.

Maybe the public shoud be aware of the dangers on the road becasue the public as far as we can see are about 90% blind and deaf when it comes to road saftey and expect the emergency services to help them when a relative is killed.
And then that family has a total new outlook on road saftey and believ in it. The public have only themselevs to blame.The message is out there but the public just ignore, but the funny thing is most of the public want to ignore it each day on the roads by overtaking on single white lines, riding up someones arse and tearing off down the road, speaking on mobile phones, changing a cd when your eyes should be on the road etc.

You are not superior to other users of this board because of your chosen profession.

Not superior, Maybe not, but at least I have sence to see what is going on. While other people just try to turn a blind eye and say all is okay on our roads. Why dont you go for a drive for an hour and tell me what offences you commit and what other offences go on. Funny how the public slow down for a RTA but speed up in around five mins and tell everyone in the pub what they have seen today and how bad it was and how they could not believe what they had seen, yet the same person would have no prob in getting into the car and driving home drunk. And speeding is the same as drunk driving as is overtaking on a bend. All careless driving and taking a risk with not just your life but with another driver or member in teh car. Common sense is a HUGE problem. If more people had it then maybe, just maybe the road deaths might drop a small bit.

maidhc wrote:

Saying "speeding kills" is a totally empty statement, you are as well off saying "If you dont eat anything you wont get cancer". What really people have to start referring to is "excessive speed in the circumstance".

Driving at a max 100k on the N8 (Watergrasshill bypass - Cork) and N25 (Midleton to Cork at least + Ballincollig) does NOTHING for road safety. It is just annoying that people in Dub can do 120k on the same standard of road (are we stupid or something?). However if I do the same speed on byroads and boreens I am guaranteed to die. But guess with the Gardaí can be found?

If both the powers than be and the garda stopped ranting about "getting the point" nonsense and actually enforced sensible speed limits people would not feel the need bo buy illegal and largely ineffectual equipment. It is likely people would then respect the road traffic laws, something which at the moment, is impossible for most straight thinking people to do.

Great job on the riots btw.

And as I said before to "Sayman" is he should grow up. Maybe if he was not anti garda and talking total bull he might look on the other side of what went on in dublin but of course people like that only care for one thing, bash the name of the local pig who raids our pubs, **** him, he is filth.....thats untill you need us, amazing how people who hate the gadrai change then. Grow up and look at waht I am trying to say on this thread. ROAD SFATEY AND AWARENESS is what I am saying all you can do is put in smart useless comments and again as i pointed out, Ignorance.

heggie

its well known that guards have quotas to meet on speeding offences, so pick easy targets, none of which are accident danger spots. I'm all for speed checks if they are used propery, but like everything in this country they are not, and it is the easy targets that are picked on. For example, why are there much more speed traps in dublin than any other county in ireland, when most of the deaths occur on rural roads?

Our man in Havana

Originally Posted by deputydugs
***aload of old cobblers****

Maybe I should forward a link to your contributions to your superiors. I wonder how they would react?

deputydugs

Why are there way more gardai in dublin. That might answer why!

Answer there are higher numbers in dublin. In fact the same is true for most places like Cork and Galway and Limerick.

heggie wrote:

its well known that guards have quotas to meet on speeding offences, so pick easy targets, none of which are accident danger spots. I'm all for speed checks if they are used propery, but like everything in this country they are not, and it is the easy targets that are picked on. For example, why are there much more speed traps in dublin than any other county in ireland, when most of the deaths occur on rural roads?

heggie

yet there are lower road deaths in dublin, a lot lower, explain please

deputydugs

Higher chance of being got, also taffic, its hard to go anywhere in dublin at a speed better that 50kph

heggie wrote:

yet there are lower road deaths in dublin, a lot lower, explain please

heggie

so once again, if speed checks are to save lives, why are there more in dublin than any other county.

deputydugs

LIKE it or lump it speed kills.And this has been proven world wide. But if the irish people could just not slow down but drive with sence it may help.

heggie

em your totally avoiding the question, do you not understand me? speed kills, so patrol the rural areas, and rural pubs where drink driving and speeding culture is rampant, not the easy targets in dublin.

deputydugs

Get onto your local TD then and get him to give us more man power and a car that can go 2miles without choking to death on its fumes.

Maybe when the govermnet gives us good resources then maybe we may be able to do a more professional and better job and provide a better service to the public. If only the public knew.

heggie wrote:

em your totally avoiding the question, do you not understand me? speed kills, so patrol the rural areas, and rural pubs where drink driving and speeding culture is rampant, not the easy targets in dublin.

Our man in Havana

heggie wrote:

em your totally avoiding the question, do you not understand me? speed kills, so patrol the rural areas, and rural pubs where drink driving and speeding culture is rampant, not the easy targets in dublin.

here! here!

Our man in Havana

deputydugs wrote:

Maybe when the govermnet gives us good resources then maybe we may be able to do a more professional and better job and provide a better service to the public. If only the public knew.

Like the way actual Gardai are deployed running the sweet shop in Templemore.

heggie

deputydugs wrote:

Get onto your local TD then and get him to give us more man power and a car that can go 2miles without choking to death on its fumes.

Maybe when the govermnet gives us good resources then maybe we may be able to do a more professional and better job and provide a better service to the public. If only the public knew.

ok fair enough, im not blaming you, a couple of guards i know dont think the current system is great, but you cant just keep blaming the 'public'. more man power isnt what im getting on about. get some traffic corps out of south dublin and into more rural areas. you may be lowe on manpower, but what you have should be used better. I remember last year hearing about 3 consecutive speed guns after kilmacanogue in wicklow, purely to clock up fines for the quota, thats a disgrace

deputydugs

Again that is not upto us it is senior mamagement and they listen to the govermnet and not to rank and file

heggie wrote:

ok fair enough, im not blaming you, a couple of guards i know dont think the current system is great, but you cant just keep blaming the 'public'. more man power isnt what im getting on about. get some traffic corps out of south dublin and into more rural areas. you may be lowe on manpower, but what you have should be used better

Bond-007 wrote:

Like the way actual Gardai are deployed running the sweet shop in Templemore.

And again a total di ck such as bond007 has to get a stupid and no point commnet in becasue he has no idea of what is going on. And maybe you should know that we dont look aftre that shop.