Radar and Laser Countermeasures Forums

Over 41 million speeding tickets were written nationwide in 2003. That translates to approximately a 14% chance every year that you, the average law abiding citizen, will be issued a speeding ticket. The average driver is practically guaranteed of getting 1 speeding ticket every 7 years. The average speeding ticket fine including court costs is $150. That translates to over 6 billion additional revenue dollars for local governments every year! And of course a speeding ticket almost always results in higher insurance premiums for several years. A single speeding ticket could cost you over $1,000 in increased insurance premiums over 3 years since most insurance companies surcharge over a 3 year period. No wonder insurance companies buy radar and laser guns for police departments. The reality is that insurance companies reap substantial financial windfalls for their relatively cheap investments in equipment.

Almost every motorist at some point gets a speeding citation which they feel was either unfairly or erroneously given. Yet motorists rarely fight these citations since the citing officer is also an officer of the court. In the eyes of the court, the officer's word is always golden yet the motorist's word is always suspect. Unfair speeding citations which result in fines and increased insurance rates are what drive motorists to purchase radar detectors. There are literally hundreds of radar detector models to chose from since the market is flooded with cheap import brand radar detectors which have poor performance. On the other hand the general consensus is that the products produced in North America by Bel, Escort, Whistler and Valentine perform extremely well. This still leaves a lot of good radar detector models to choose from.

Where can you go in order to learn about radar detectors or other types of speed surveillance countermeasures? Quite simply, the only place aside from manufacturer web sites are on-line forums which are dedicated to the use of these products. These forums are similar to online car forums where you can find out everything you ever wanted to know about your car. Radar detector and speed countermeasures forums forums are filled with knowledgeable enthusiasts who can answer all of your questions and help guide you in finding the product which is best suited for both your needs and your budget. Recommended forums, in order of popularity:

The Radar Detector Jammer Forum (http://www.radardetector.net/) is both the most popular and oldest online enthusiast's forum about all types of speed measurement countermeasures. The forum was created by "Radar Roy" who is a retired law enforcement officer.

The Speed Trap Hunter Forum (http://www.speedtraphunter.net/) is more of crossover forum between the radar detector and law enforcement industries, which is unusual since both industries tend to be at odds with each other.

One additional and highly recommended additional online resource, even though its not a forum, is:

Guys of LIDAR (http://www.guysoflidar.com/) provides a wealth of information and independent test reports for various radar detector and laser countermeasure products. Guys of LIDAR is a group of individuals who independently test products, yet refuse to accept any form of financial compensation or gifts from industry manufacturers.

These forums offer great insight to the various benefits of the radar detectors offered today such as the Beltronics GX65, the RX65 and the STi-R.