Radar detectors

Life Cars & Motorcycles
#1

Getting a bit fed up with the speeding tickets so was wondering…

Are these detector thingies legal or illegal? Most of the cameras in Taiwan (or at least where I seem to drive) are the fixed camera rather than the hand held ones. Do the detectors pick up the fixed cameras or only those radar guns? Would US bought detectors work here or do they use different frequencies? Any advice would be nice as my wife doesn’t seem to enjoy those phots as much as I do…

If you know of a particular model you can buy here, just tell me, forget the above questions and save a marriage!!

#2

Radar detectors are legal here now (a few years ago they weren’t), and you can buy them almost anywhere auto accessories are sold.

US detectors are marginally helpful here – the fixed cameras here typically operate on one of the following principles:

  1. K band [US models work with this one]
  2. Ku Band [US models do NOT work with this one], or
  3. Spaced wire loops embedded in the pavement [you need a specific Taiwan model to detect these].

Actually, the “detector” for the loops in the pavement works by the vendor of the detector setting up a radio transmitter nearby the speed camera – which transmits a signal to the detector in your car as you drive past. These transmitters that the vendors set up are illegal, and it’s a constant cat/mouse game between the police removing the transmitters and the vendors re-installing them – which makes for an unreliable detection system.

However, for all permanently fixed cameras there are warning signs placed in advance to let you know they are there, so all you have to do is just slow down.

If you are interested, I have a used one I could sell – PM me for details.

#3

+1 they are not as reliable for radar guns. because the cop only uses them intermittently, if there’s no traffic ahead, by the time you get the warning, it’s already targetting you. If you have radar-bait ahead (another bike or car speeding) then you have a chance that the signal will bounce off at such an angle that your detector picks it up.

As for the legality. They better be legal. When I bought my car a few years ago, my detector (a so-so, cheap one) came free with it.

#4

Thanks for the replies.

I’m still not sure if it would be worth buying one. I know the “slow down/camera” signs are around but I tend to get a little complacent and thought that if I could get a warning beep every now and again, it might help.

Are most of the fixed cameras the fixed loop thingies? If they are, then it would seem that the detectors are reliant on the speed/ability of the vendor to install a transmitter…not a sure fire way to avoid tickets!

Cheers x08 and Peanut…I’ll do a little research and maybe get back to you on the used unit.

#5

I am using 3 different technologies.

  1. GPS speed trap positionning system for fixed devices.
  2. Standard speed trap detector for laser detection and other devices
  3. Laser jammer in front of the car to deviate the laser beam.

So far it does work. last day when I faced a cop with his laser gun toy he looked at my car and moved down toward the ground his laser because it did not give him any information about speed anymore.

The GPS work perfectly well, I don’t need to focus on fixed cameras, only the BMW black police car still needs to be detected before they detrect you speeding :wink:

The entire stuff is about 18’000 NT$

#6

Thanks Volcan

Sounds like just what I need. Are these available in any car accessory shop or (radar jammer), a “grey area” kinda purchase. If you could give me the model/brand names of the stuff it would be great. PM me if you like. Thanks all the same.

#7

what are the legalities of laser jammers here volcan?

once I get the new bike, I’m gunna need a decent setup on it~

#8

The only system that works at all is GPS for fixed cameras. The science behind jammers, detectors etc. does not add up and imho they’re a waste of money.

How are you getting all these speed tickets anyway?? I keep under the speed limit in accident areas and whenever I see the big yellow speed camera signs and that’s my total investment in detector technology. Between the bike and the car I do nearly 40,000km a year and never received a single ticket. My gf has driven just over 4,000km in the last two or three years and managed to get 7 speeding fines. She has a ‘radar/laser’ detector. I’m saying nothing…

#9

I will agree with llary here somewhat~ radar detectors can help, but they are not the be all and end all…

on a side note… the one I have has once told me to limit myself to 90kph when I was on a little canal-side road where I would reconsider even doing 70~

#10

All those devices are available in every accessory shop in Taiwan. It’s open for sell and they take care of the installation.

I did not look at that, but I can imagine that it’s illegal, but speed is illegal too :wink:

The GPS is of course working very well, no doubt about that. I as I mentioned before, the laser detector does work

I tried to do the same for a while until one day I went to Kaohsiung and had to face 3 laser pointing at me !!! I just can’t keep the 90 KM/H on a highway.

Most of my colleagues are using those cheap detectors, but it bips so many times that they just don’t listen to them anymore. That’s why most of them still got tickets.

So far so good for me, and the experience I did with the cop pointing a laser at me and disapointingly lower down the gun when I passed-by shows the result.

The problem with speed limits is that, it does not consider the time (pick time, night, day), and conditions (dry, wet, busy, empty) and car condition (new car, old car, with or without ABS etc…), sure it would not be possible to have limits for all those cases but taking the worst case to set limits is not fair for the others.

What about scooters? It looks like they never get cought when passing a speed trap !

#11

Not true,
I’ve got 4,800 worth of fines on my bike right now…I really didn’t think there was any film in the camera on the other side of the Xin Hai tunnel, but I guess I was wrong…

I think that it’s slightly less likely that scooters will get a ticket as there are often several of them passing the speed camera together in a little huggle.

#12

Ditto. The wire loops under the pavement are sensitive enough to pick up scooters. Ever since I got that ticket about 8 years ago, I’ve simply memorized where all the cameras are, and watched out for those yellow signs too, and I’ve had zero speeding tickets since.

AFAIK, most traps here are wire loop based, and they’re all conspicuously marked :loco: , so you don’t really need a device to avoid them.

#13

[quote]I just can’t keep the 90 KM/H on a highway.
[/quote]
A few driving lessons would probably help with that.

#14

[quote=“volcan”]I am using 3 different technologies.

  1. GPS speed trap positionning system for fixed devices.
  2. Standard speed trap detector for laser detection and other devices
  3. Laser jammer in front of the car to deviate the laser beam.

[/quote]

Volcan, you’ve got the right setup – GPS is the best for fixed cameras, as long as you keep the maps updated. One other thing to remember though - if driving through a long tunnel, the GPS loses its signal, so one needs to be careful of any cameras placed at the end of the tunnel. I ran into this situation around Taipei/Xindian(?), but forget exactly which road is on though.

Are you sure he lowered it because he couldn’t read your speed? I’ve had this happen to me too, but I have no jammer, so he must have lowered it simply because I was not speeding. Regardless, some of them supposedly work, and work very well ( radartest.com/article.asp?articleID=100541 ) .

#15

You actually right sandman, I should, but I just drive more carefully and better when I am speeding (130+), of course I don’t talk about high speed. The only time when I drove my car into another one (15 years ago) was when I was driving at speed limit :s I don’t say that speeding is right, but for me I need to focus on what I do when speeding.

I am pretty sure yes, he looked at me with a disapointing face. But I will let you know next time I face another dude with his toy pointing at me.

Drive safe!

#16

Well… I’ve been doing 20 over the limit on the hornet and targeted by a laser-weilding cop… My guess is that I wasn’t going ENOUGH over the limit for him to be bothered pulling me over… some cars really fly down that road, so there must’ve been bigger fish to fry~

or maybe he saw I was on a ‘big bike’ and thought I would just run if he signalled me to pull over~