Radar\Laser dectectors

Finglas Incubus

Anyone out there using detectors with any degree of success?
I know thats its pretty hard for these devices to pick up on laser frequencies before you get zapped but the rader would be handy for gatsos and the like. There was a company at 'Toys 4 Big Boys' in the RDS over the weekend promoting their 'Whistler' line of detectors, I was thinking of picking up the €125 unit from their site @ http://www.speedcameradefence.com/ - Fing

kayos

Be very very careful. These detectors/jammers are illegal to use afaik. You can buy them no problems but you can not use them. That site says they are legal but that is in the UK.

I could be totaly wrong but I dont think I am .

kayos

sceptre

No, you're right kayos. Bit Pulp Fictiony all right.

Farls

I too seen them at the show in the RDS...very well presented i must say...just a bunch of leaflets, none on show and no one to tell you about them. I done a small bit of checking up into it tho and from what i can see and have been told its not illegal to own one, nor is it illegal to carry one about...say on the dash of your car...its only illegal to have it turned on....always a loop hole eh?

again im not 100% sure and will probably be corrected but until someone gives a link to an irish law site stating different im going along with this and going to purchase one....not from that company tho.

Farlz

Borzoi

Originally posted by Farls
not from that company tho.

Did you find one cheaper/better elsewhere?

Chimaera

To the best of knowledge, the Irish law bans the ownership of any device which is capable of detecting speed monitoring equipment used by the Gardaí.

The situation in the uk is quite different. For a long time over there, radar/laser detectors were banned under the Wireless Telegraphy act which banned the use of devices which could be used to intercept radio messages (don't know the exact wording, but that's the gist of it). A number of years ago, a landmark case was taken where the judge ruled that these detectors were not in contravention of this law since they are only detecting the presence of a "message" - they are not intercepting and decoding it. And so they are currently legal for use in the UK.

In reality, 9 times out of 10 you'll probably get away with using one here, but afaik the penalties for being caught are quite severe, and it's worth remembering that some of the cheaper devices can be detected by the Gardaí as well.

leeroybrown

A friend of mine used to have one. He had it mounted on a little bracket so he could take it down and throw it under the seat or in the glovebox whenever he was using it.

I wonder how many penalty points they could foist on you for having one?

Samson

Originally posted by Farls
I done a small bit of checking up into it tho and from what i can see and have been told its not illegal to own one, nor is it illegal to carry one about...say on the dash of your car...its only illegal to have it turned on....always a loop hole eh?

again im not 100% sure and will probably be corrected but until someone gives a link to an irish law site stating different im going along with this and going to purchase one....not from that company tho.

Importation, ownership and use are all illegal.

S.I. No. 50/1991 ROAD TRAFFIC (SPEED METER DETECTORS) REGULATIONS, 1991.

And I quote:


ROAD TRAFFIC (SPEED METER DETECTORS) REGULATIONS, 1991.

The Minister for the Environment in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 5 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (No. 24 of 1961) and by section 9 of the Road Traffic Act, 1968 (No. 25 of 1968) hereby makes the following Regulations:—

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Speed Meter Detectors) Regulations, 1991.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of April, 1991.

3. In these Regulations, "speed meter detector" means any device which is capable of being used to indicate the existence of, or to frustrate the operation of, electronic or other apparatus being used to give indications from which the speed at which a person was driving can be inferred.

4. A person shall not use in a public place a mechanically propelled vehicle to which is fitted, or in or on which is carried, a speed meter detector whether or not such device is actually in use.

5. (1) The importation or supplying of, or offering to supply, a speed meter detector is hereby prohibited.

(2) The fitting of, or offering to fit, a speed meter detector to a mechanically propelled vehicle is hereby prohibited.

6. Article 5 of these Regulations shall be a penal Regulation.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment

this 14th day of March, 1991.

PÁDRAIG FLYNN,

Minister for the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations prohibit importation, supply, fitting and use of speed meter detectors and jammers.



As regards the effectiveness of these items, there is a (somewhat outdated) article, I wrote which may help clarify some issues, here:
http://www.speedtraps.ie.nu/defense.htm

Farls

And there goes that idea!!...cheers for the information and that speedtraps site is very good and informative.

On another note, the radar detectors don't half look like a discman, wonder if they all HAVE to be fitted on the dash?

Farlz

Our man in Havana

No you cant get ones that fit into the front grille and have a small alarm in your pocket.

You can even get laser jammers now too!

BioHazRd

Basically you would be throwing your money away. A radar detector for the purpose of detecting a gatso camera would be useless due to the fact that the camera gets you from behind - by the time the alarm goes off - you have already been snapped. The Gardai now do not leave their radar guns on all the time - they only switch them on when they have you in view and range. they can clock you in about a 1/3 of a second - you try to move your foot from accelerator to brake and get your speed down to where it should be in that time - impossible. Lasers jammers also do not work.Think of the visible size of the front of your car as seen by a garda, compared to the visible size of your jammer - it's basic physics really. That little thing cannot possibly mask the whole visible profile of your car.
Also regarding the detection of these devices in the car - its quite simple really - if a garda is clocking you at, say 75 in a 60 zone, and he notices your speed dropping sharply due to braking - how else would you know to brake if you didn't have a detector.
The danger with these detectors is that they may give some people a false sense of security, a license to speed, if you will.
The only solution is not to put yourself in a position where you would "need" a speed detector - don't speed. It works for me

Bio

Chimaera

A radar detector for the purpose of detecting a gatso camera would be useless due to the fact that the camera gets you from behind - by the time the alarm goes off - you have already been snapped.

This is not quite true - the gatso checks your speed as you approach, then if it decides you are over the speed limit, it will take a picture of your car from behind as you pass. Also, not all gatsos use radar to measure your speed - some of them use triggers built into the road surface - you'll see them sometimes as a set of white lines across the road - it knows how far apart they are, and measures the time it takes for your front tyres to go from one to the other and calculates your speed that way. A radar detector won't pick this up at all.

And I think that there are devices that will detect the presence of a radar detector. A laser jammer can certainly be picked up quite easily as it sends out a laser signal to cancel the signal being sent by the Garda's laser gun, not to mention the fact that a Garda might be a little suspicious of the fact that he can't get a speed reading on your car.

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by Chimaera
This is not quite true - the gatso checks your speed as you approach, then if it decides you are over the speed limit, it will take a picture of your car from behind as you pass. Also, not all gatsos use radar to measure your speed - some of them use triggers built into the road surface - you'll see them sometimes as a set of white lines across the road - it knows how far apart they are, and measures the time it takes for your front tyres to go from one to the other and calculates your speed that way. A radar detector won't pick this up at all.

These are called Tuvelo and are not in use here yet. These are really sly as they do not flash and they take a front on picture which shows your mug. Embarrassing if your wife opens the post and you are with someone you shouldnt be with

And I think that there are devices that will detect the presence of a radar detector. A laser jammer can certainly be picked up quite easily as it sends out a laser signal to cancel the signal being sent by the Garda's laser gun, not to mention the fact that a Garda might be a little suspicious of the fact that he can't get a speed reading on your car.

Good point.

BioHazRd

Originally posted by Chimaera
This is not quite true - the gatso checks your speed as you approach, then if it decides you are over the speed limit, it will take a picture of your car from behind as you pass. Also, not all gatsos use radar to measure your speed - some of them use triggers built into the road surface - you'll see them sometimes as a set of white lines across the road - it knows how far apart they are, and measures the time it takes for your front tyres to go from one to the other and calculates your speed that way. A radar detector won't pick this up at all.

No, I'm afraid you are mistaken. The radar sensor is mounted on the same side as the camera lens - therefore you only come into the field of view when you have passed the camera (I'm talking about fixed Gatso cameras). Those white lines are a way of verifying your speed should you wish to dispute the ticket. The camera takes two photos of you at precise intervals - and the distance you have travelled in that time can be seen by how many lines you have passed - when they know the time interval of the photos, its easy to verify your speed.

BTW did you know the gatso camera was invented by a Dutch (I think) ex rally driver called Gatsonides, after he disputed the accuracy of a speed ticket that his wife got

Bio

Borzoi

Originally posted by Samson


EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations prohibit importation, supply, fitting and use of speed meter detectors and jammers.

Funnily enough, I was up in MAplins in Blanch over the W/E, and they have a mockup of a radar gun on a tripod and a big sign advertising their detectors.

I was torn between warning themand grassing them up, so I compromised and did nothing:D