Do ANY detectors (w/o jammers) save you from Laser?

[RadarKid]

I've read a bunch of jeers between friends on here, as to whether or not a 9500i could save you...or only the V1 etc. etc.

But I was really looking for the facts here.......

I've always heard a LASER shot means you're screwed anyway if you get a reading...is there any time you're not? (besides when they're eating donuts and coffee)

[bunny]

only if you're extremely lucky.

[djrams80]

only if you're extremely lucky.

It happens, but it's very uncommon. Detecting laser almost always means you're toast! And if their eating doughnuts and coffee, that leaves no free hands to shoot the laser gun.

[corkguykev]

only if you're extremely lucky.

X2^ although i have been hit a few times lately and even after i killed the LPP, the LEO still took a while to get a reading because my V1 kept alerting for a few seconds more.

this was my most recent one. i turned back to get a hit with the camera so it wasnt a save but note how long it took him to get a reading after i switched off the jammer.................

YouTube - 100ppsULjam

maybe the V1 alone could have done the job had i been over PSL but i wont be testing that theory out anytime soon

[rsatmans]

In reality if the cop is targeting you any detector will become a ticket notifier. However, the advantage of a v1 and probably only a v1 is if a car beside or ahead of you is targeted the v1 should be able to pick up scatter. The v1 uses a special compound parabolic concentrator that no other detector has that is why the detection on laser is so great.

[justin81]

Not sure what to tell you. Some people say V1 is the only detector that will save you from laser (IE. advanced warning when the LEO targets a car ahead or to the side).

There have been times that I have been blatantly speeding way above the PSL, gotten the laser warning on my 8500, slowed down, and passed undisturbed. I'm not sure what was going through the minds of the LEOs in those situations. Maybe I wasn't going fast enough to warrant being stopped, maybe they were missing/having a hard time aiming because I have no front plate, maybe it was a training exercise and they weren't actually citing people, maybe they saw I was making an effort to slow down, so they didn't care as much. So many times I wish I could have pulled over anyway and asked "hey, how fast was I going back there?"

Sorta OT - Once I was pulled over talking to some LEOs running a laser trap (I wasn't in trouble though, some jerk had rear ended me and taken off only to get caught in this speed trap). My car was facing the dude "lasering" oncoming traffic just a few feet away yet my 8500 seemed like it was hibernating. They caught a bunch of people yet no alert at all from the 8500 at that close range.

[strangeknight]

I had a Whistler, cannot remember the model, and it alerted me two different times allowing me to slow down quick enough to a void a ticket. But in both cases my rabbit was hit first and in one case I saw the LEO nail the rabbit so I was able to start slowing down just before my detector sounded off its warning. Both times, I was going 10 - 15 over the PSL.

[lordhamster]

I suspect that the scatter situation is not happening very often. My best guess is that the LEO is trying to target you from too far away. If you have a good detector like a V1, there is a chance you may be able to slow down before he gets a proper reading. At least thats what I've assumed. Although, I've also had some crazy crazy long laser alerts with the V1 which I've attributed to the LEO not holding the gun quite steady and me passing through the beam he missed the intended target up ahead of me with.

[TSi+WRX]

The following is from other posts of mine, on RR.net:

The problem is that although we've all been led to believe that police LIDAR is an "instantaneous" speed-measuring device, it's actually far, far from that.

While the vast majority of speed locks do occur at the "at or less than 1/3 of a second" speed touted by the various manufacturers, the actual lock-time can be many times longer - and not infrequently, vehicles, at-random, without being equipped with any type of countermeasures, can return with no-lock or spurious errors.

Look at any of the various hobbyist testing videos - when they're just clocking passing traffic, you'll see that this is true. Now, keeping in mind that only a small fraction of any such test is what's actually "on tape," and combine this with the typical difficulty in terms of obtaining an "enforcement scenario" reading (vehicles traveling at-speed, without the help of a stabilizing tripod setup, etc.) - it's not at all unlikely for a good detector to catch scatter, nor is it impossible for such "saves" to occur.

The key, I believe, is that instead of debating whether such "saves" can occur (far from impossible, such "saves" take place nearly every-day - look here on these Forums, use the search engine, and you'll find many, many tales of such saves, and not all from the V1; similarly, look at the stories of those who have jammers - and note how many times their high-mounted detectors have provided advanced-notice/"save" [one of my own tales is among these ranks]), is rather to point out the fact that yes, one can get lucky and have such a "save," but your overall odds against are such that the only viable recommendation to give, when speaking of proper LIDAR defenses, is to advise for the use of a good jammer setup.

Also, I should clarify -

Don't get me wrong....I do *NOT* believe that, in a LIDAR-as-primary-threat area, a detector (even a top-line detector, or even the superior laser-sensitivity V1, outright) is "sufficient" protection.

While I've said above that police LIDAR is not as infallible nor as instantaneous as it's made out to be, the truth of the matter is that this device still greatly shifts the favor of the field-of-play towards the side of the enforcers.

Although a good detector, plus good mounting considerations, plus a good amount of tactical usage consideration (plus luck) can effect "saves" from "scatter," reflections, and the "down road" painting of preceeding vehicles, you must remember that you're still playing the odds - and these odds are stacked well against you, and much favors the enforcer, who not only can pick his equipment, but can also alter the physical constraints of the engagement circumstance (i.e. recall the close-range overpass shot, frontal, using a LA SpeedLaser-III, which defeated the infamous noory's single front LPP setup).

The fact is that early-detection - and "save" - via good detector is *possible*, and is not so infrequent nor rare as to make it an unlikely event, and should not disuade anyone from the dollar-investment necessary to obtain a top-flight detector.

However, the fact also remains that if you face LIDAR as your primary daily threat, eventually, your odds are going to run out. This is why a good active jammer (plus good mounting considerations) is an absolute NEED, if your primary threat is LIDAR, as it helps shift the balance-of-favor back somewhat into our court.

Even then, it should be noted that no jammer is "100%." There's always, always, that chance of an unfortunate - and unexpected - PT, whether this be due to equipment failure or user-error (to include, but is not limited to: failure to switch-on the jammer, failure to properly operate the jammer [i.e. incorrect mode selection], failure to regularly check head leveling/aim, etc.). This is why not only is it of utmost importance to have as good of a jammer setup as possible, but also to further "layer" one's defenses, and again, in this respect, a good detector, capable of picking up down-road paint-spill, scatter, or reflections, is just one such layer.

[strangeknight]

Excellent post TSI-WRX ...