Speed trap detectors - Legal in Ireland?

mik_da_man

I have driven in a car with a dector in it and I found myself to be travelling quite a bit faster than normal, it takes away the fear of being a few km over the limit and makes you drive at what you think is safe which may not be safe at all.
They are a bad idea unless you are intent on staying close to the posted limits, which tbh most people who get them wont be doing anyway.

Mik

TheNog

mik_da_man wrote: »

I have driven in a car with a dector in it and I found myself to be travelling quite a bit faster than normal, it takes away the fear of being a few km over the limit and makes you drive at what you think is safe which may not be safe at all.
They are a bad idea unless you are intent on staying close to the posted limits, which tbh most people who get them wont be doing anyway.

Mik

but would a detector pick up a mobile speed radar gun? i presume they will but only when the radar gun is activated and pointed at the car.

doesnt seem to make sense to me seeing that if the radar gun is used properly a cars speed can be detected in less than 2 seconds or in some cases less than 1 second

Donkey Konkey

Does anybody know if there is a gadget that detects these cameras / guns? Web address?

mik_da_man

TheNog wrote: »

but would a detector pick up a mobile speed radar gun? i presume they will but only when the radar gun is activated and pointed at the car.

doesnt seem to make sense to me seeing that if the radar gun is used properly a cars speed can be detected in less than 2 seconds or in some cases less than 1 second

The detector picks up radar fine, up to 1 mile away from where it is being used apparently. Something about scatter or teh width of band it sends out
I'm no expert but from what i've heard it will give you plenty of notice, it does not need to be pointing at your car just being used near you.
That is not true of laser however as it works on a narrower band.

This info is only what I have gathered from the interweb

Eoin

TheNog wrote: »

but would a detector pick up a mobile speed radar gun? i presume they will but only when the radar gun is activated and pointed at the car.

That's what I would have thought as well.

I used one briefly and it was a load of shìte. Lots of false positives, and the one time it didn't go off was driving past one of those road-side signs that tells you what speed you're doing.

mik_da_man

eoin_s wrote: »

That's what I would have thought as well.

I used one briefly and it was a load of shìte. Lots of false positives, and the one time it didn't go off was driving past one of those road-side signs that tells you what speed you're doing.

The one i used picked up these signs about half a mile away!
A good false positives in around towns with cameras on traffic lights, though the sensisitivity can be set lower for towns/cities

TheNog

mik_da_man wrote: »

The detector picks up radar fine, up to 1 mile away from where it is being used apparently. Something about scatter or teh width of band it sends out
I'm no expert but from what i've heard it will give you plenty of notice, it does not need to be pointing at your car just being used near you.
That is not true of laser however as it works on a narrower band.

This info is only what I have gathered from the interweb

If it takes less than 2 seconds to get a good lock on a car would I be correct in saying that a speed detector is useless unless the guard is having trouble getting a lock on the car?

Bear in mind that that most speed checks would not be done anywhere near a mile from the guard/gatso position.

mik_da_man

TheNog wrote: »

If it takes less than 2 seconds to get a good lock on a car would I be correct in saying that a speed detector is useless unless the guard is having trouble getting a lock on the car?

Bear in mind that that most speed checks would not be done anywhere near a mile from the guard/gatso position.

From what I've read the radar disperses so if you were aiming at a car the radar would not be focused on the car but would cover a wider/longer distance, the detector picks up the "stray" radar and indicates that a speed gun is being used in the area.
The gun does not need to be pointed directly at the car for the detector to pick it up.
I am basing all the above on what I have read on the net so it may not be accurate, I'll try to dig up a good link I found a while back

eringobragh

TheNog wrote: »

If it takes less than 2 seconds to get a good lock on a car would I be correct in saying that a speed detector is useless unless the guard is having trouble getting a lock on the car?

Bear in mind that that most speed checks would not be done anywhere near a mile from the guard/gatso position.

With Laser yes. The 8 new vans use RADAR so it takes your snap @ 10 - 15 metres

eringobragh

Donkey Konkey wrote: »

Does anybody know if there is a gadget that detects these cameras / guns? Web address?

Cheetah Sentinel is your best bet or the Valentine V1 if you've a mssive budget!!! Anything else is a waste of time.

mik_da_man

Here's a good link with some interesting info about Laser and Radar

Linky

mik