What a save!
Hello all,
I last posted when I installed my two head LI last year. Since then I have done mostly city driving in Calgary and was the happy recipient of what I considered a few saves. There are some sneaky fishing holes the police use in Calgary and while I was never going much over the speed limit, I know the LI saved me with ample warning a few times from tickets. Calgary police use the Ultralyte exclusively in my experience.
For you non-Canadians, Calgary is in Alberta and Alberta's highway patrol typically uses KA band radar, and I'm accustomed to it. Alberta highways are well designed and paved, and with the exception of the QE 2, pretty safe without a lot of traffic. I take it easier on the QE 2, but enjoy faster cruising on the #1 (Trans-Canada Highway). The V1 has paid for itself by a multitude of 4 since I started using it on the #1.
Let me emphasize that I never tailgate in an effort to coerce a forward vehicle pull to the right to let me pass (that's dangerous), I never drive beyond the conditions of the road or the traffic, and in wildlife areas I slow to meet the conditions. But if its flat, clear, dry and in front of me, I have been known to step on it.
I had not been hit by LIDAR on an Alberta highway.... until tonight.
There was a massive storm cloud forming in the direction I was driving, (going East on the #1 toward Calgary from near Lake Louise), but the cloud was still mostly white and not yet ready to unleash hail. The radio stations were repleat with severe hail warnings. The cloud was so massive though, that many cars were parked in the rest areas so people could take pictures of it.
I did not want hail damage to my car, and needed to get to my destination quickly, but traffic was heavy. I was cruising at a moderate but over speed 120 km/h in a 90 km/h zone near Banff while traffic was blocking me only going 120 in the fast lane. This lasted for about 20 minutes. Nobody moved to the right lane to let me pass, but that's typical here.
Past Banff, I manged to get around a few slow-moving cars in the supposed left (fast) lane by passing them in the right (slow) lane. By now I was out of the national park and the speed limit was 110 km/h. It was time to pick it up and beat the hail. Luckily, a large stretch of highway opened in front of me in the fast lane. I switched over to the left lane and burned past about 20 cars in the right lane. I was approaching a slight incline and I knew there was a dip there... nothing significant... and I could see the highway beyond. I thought nothing of it.
I hit the crest of the hill and my LI alerted. The V1 went off at about the same time. The RCMP had two cars right in front of me in the grassy median parked perpendicular to the highway, officers outside with two LIDAR guns on tripods, with a chase car facing my same direction to catch anyone caught speeding.
The alert was a total shock.... it was my first LI alert on a highway. I hit the brakes hard, and before I knew it I was at 90 km/h (in a 110 zone, this car breaks like a champ), and switched the LI off before I even heard what make the gun (or guns) was/were. The RCMP cars were so close (at the crest of the hill they were maybe 500-700 feet away (I'm totally estimating... I was too surprised to make a real reading, but they were right there!) when the alert sounded.... fully visible, in plain view) and I hadn't leveled my heads in so long I thought I was busted... and my passenger was also sure I was busted.
Result.... success! I passed by them without incident, and beat a massive hail storm before it hit.
That single experience paid for the LI (lol again). My passenger was in awe, and I'm certain a good portion of those cars in the slow lane are still wondering how I didn't get pulled over. Traffic got a lot heavier closer to Calgary and I slowed to their speeds, but I was giddy for the rest of the trip that I beat that particular encounter.
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