Charlie882 said:
I had a question for the LEO's on the board or anyone that knows about radar/laser guns that the police use.
Everytime I am out driving and see one of those police units that radar/laser you and post your speed up so you can see how fast you are going in a posted zone, it always seems like they have trouble locking my speed until I am right in front of them. Other vehicles it seems to pick up quite a ways back. Do you think this is my imagination or do these devices have a harder time picking up Corvettes because of their slippery shape? I noticed it has happened with a few of these devices in different locations and it had me wondering.
On that same note, do the LEO's on here that use radar/laser have trouble locking in Corvette speeds versus other boxier cars like a Dodge Charger or Ford Expedition?
Nope no trouble. I worked an off duty speed enforcement detail yesterday where complaints of speeders in a neighborhood got an extra enforcement. I clocked a C3 C5 and C6 with no problem. Luckily they weren't speeding (because I try not to write Vettes a ticket). I was using a Laser. It's an older model and not so fancy, but I works like a champ. No problem clocking other cars like a Nissan 350Z, sporty Mazda (unk model) or a Lotus Elise that passed me. I find it just as easy to clock a Big truck or boxy car as a sports car.
Radar is a liiiiitle bit different. Sometimes it's easier with radar for the boxier or larger vehicles for the obvious reason that the radar signal is bounced back in greater magnitude on a more flat surface, but I still get the readings pretty quick.
ynkedad said:
From what I've read, the operator aims for the best reflective surface Ie. license plates, bumpers, head lights etc, from the front as well as the rear. This is why I chuckle everytime I see people adding shiney metal products to their vehicles (it makes them a beter target).
Sorry, not true. I point right at the front of the car in the center. No headlight shots. No shiny objects. I can clock a dull primer car (such as some of the '50's hotrods around here) as easily as a 2006 vehicle thats all shined up or a kids car with bling-bling on it.
ynkedad said:
Also, from what I've read, it's nearly if not totally impossible to detect the speed of your vehicle from the sides.
True. The device measures how fast the beam (laser) or wave (radar) sends out then comes back, it does this several times almost instantly to compare the two or three responses and does the math to determine the distance difference or "closing" speed, (works going away too obviously). When the device is used to measure from the side (90 degrees) the distance does not change from the car to the device as the car drives by. The prime angle is 0 of course but that would be directly towards the device. When we sit by the road we have a 2-10 degree angle to avoid being "in traffic". The greater the angle the better it is for the person being clocked. The angle reduces the amount of distance covered between the car and the device so it reads slightly slower on the device (your doing 55 and the device may read the calculation as 53 or 52 mph). It works in the defendants favor so it is never brought up in court. The judge may bang the defendant a little harder if we say "he was clocked at "71 in a 45" but the subject is brought up and the judge thinks "71,,, thats like 74 or 75 mph".
There are devices that could tell your speed from 90 degrees (above or from the side), but it's not radar or laser. It's basically a measured distance (usually with lines on the road) and a fancy stopwatch. The watch is programmed with the distance of the marks, then the operator starts it when you hit the first line and stops it when you hit the second line. The computer (stopwatch) then computes the speed over a known distance and spits it out in a fraction of a second so the officer can see it. This is how we do enforcement from the air in planes and helicopters. The pilot radios down "red pick up in right lane, 75 mph. yep you are behind the right car (as a ground chase car falls in behind the truck).
ynkedad said:
Regarding the portable detectors you've mentioned, i've noticed that it does wait till i'm pretty close to post my speed, whether i'm in the Vette, Mustang or the Armada. The cool thing is, my Val 1 picks'em up LONG before hand!
That only works if you are lucky enough to be in traffic when they try clocking someone in front of you or when they are too lazy and leave it on. If they turn it off, or "pause it" then no signal is let out so theres nothing to pick up. I pause mine if traffic looks slow (we can estimate the speed prior to the clock). Then I turn it on (or activate the laser like pulling the trigger on a gun) and the beep you hear is only an early warning that a stop is about to happen.:ack2:
Detectors are ok, but drive carefully and they won't be all you lean on to avoid a ticket.:thumbsup:
Drive careful out there, and save the wave!:wavey:
. Otherwise, just like HP said, it will only tell you you've been caught:lmao: