That was a CLOSE call - V1 saves the day

[cowtown]

I've got a frontage road right by my house that allows me to parallel the freeway for about 3 miles before I get on, avoiding some traffic as I head to work.

So I was following an old guy in his Acura type S something-or-other down this road, and he set a good pace of about 75mph. This is posted 55, but with farm fields on either side and nothing else in sight, 75-80 is the norm.

About one mile down, instant-on Ka band lit up at maximum strength on the V1.

Uh oh...I got on the brakes hard, down to 60, and started to flash my highbeams at the Acura in front of me, who was pulling away now.

The V1 is screaming. I look at the oncoming lane - a black unmarked CHP car with no light bar is passing us. Out of my rear view mirror, I see him now, holding my breath...he pulls to the shoulder...uh oh, he turns around and accellerates hard, chasing the two of us down.

The lights come on, and I slow way down, getting ready to pull to the side of the road.

But he blasts past me and grabs the Acura guy, who is just now realizing what happened.

As I motor slowly by the CHP and Acura, the cop is hopping out of his car.

"Don't flash!" he yells as I go by.

Whew!

[motion]

Colin - wait till you see the stealth V1 install for your 993... slick!

[ZOA NOM]

P-Car : 1
Ricer : 0

Love it!

[IROC]

The V1 guy (Mike Valentine) is the brother of a friend of mine. He is a hard-core kinda guy when it comes to the whole science of detecting the speed of vehicles with radar. Needless to say, he has convinced me that his detector belongs at the top of the heap of radar detectors...

Plus, what's up with the "don't flash" comment?!?! That kills me...

Mike

[Paulporsche]

Here in Ontario, they've actually made it illegal to flash another driver to warn him of radar.

[klaucke]

Its also illegal here in MA

[bigrubberjeep]

I don't find it on Pelican, what's the next best source?

[VaSteve]

You have to buy direct. It's the only way. Or Ebay...

[cowtown]

You won't regret it, BRJ. It's an awesome piece of technology.

[IROC]

Flashing is illegal? Man, that's crap. I guess it's considered "obstruction of justice"? What if the person you flash isn't actually speeding? No justice is obstructed? What if you're flashing your lights to warn approaching motorists of some problem ahead (object in the road, accident, etc.)?

Rhetorical questions, I realize, but it kills me when they implement a law like this merely to remove any impediments to revenue generation.

Mike

[ruf-porsche]

Was saved a few time by people flashing to let me know about a speed trap up a head, I flash a couple of time to let people know about a speed trap that I have just passed.

Don't have a V1 just and an escort 7500 that I got for 6 bucks.

[Randy Webb]

I would go ahead and flash. You are unlikely to get caught, and if you do get a ticket you can then bring a 1st Amendment challenge to the law.

And, BTW, the (friggin') state interest is minimal here -- the state's interest is in getting people to slow down. Flashing does that, whereas catching one bosco has a lessor effect.

[jmarenas]

I always help my un informed potential victims by Flashing all I got if other are in danger. If the police say Dont Flash, then drive clearly marked cars!!!!


The local cars in my county, Oakland county michigan include, but not limited to:

A Totally UNMARKED Ford Mercury Maurader Black, Chrome wheels Tinted Front windows.

A semi marked Black 04 Corvette Coupe

A Semi Marked Black 04 Cadillac CTS-V

A semi Marked Jaquar Coupe Navy Blue 04

A UNMARKED Black Tahoe (99 Mile per hour limit) only know cause cop friend told me so.

Where is the line drawn????

[masraum]

Man I love those old Chevy II Novas, and the cobra is, of course, cool.

[84toy]

Typical.....Remember when they tried to cite the "do-gooder" who was putting money in expired parking meters so people wouldn't get a ticket?

We have unforunately regulated ourselves to death. It just tells me that we spend way too much tax dollars on law enforcement when they have time to chase this petty stuff instead of criminals.

The other day I was going quite fast on the open freeway and had another guy right behind me. My V-1 went off at one of the usual radar spots and I hit the brakes. The guy behind me flipped me off and was shaking his fist.......until we crested the hill and saw the cop. Afterwards, he came up beside me with thumbs up making apologies (I saved his a$$). I guess that's illegal too.....sigh

[vash]

how can he prove what you were flashing for?

colin, very nice of you to try.

[adamred]

I got flashed today, thankfully! Was crusing through a Forest reservation that was just made for a 911. Speed limit 25, was doing 45, mind you no pedestrians, schools, etc..just the deer and bunnies, got the flash slowed down, saved me a some $$ and points...

[Paulporsche]

I certainly agree that it would be hard for anyone to prove that someone was flashing as a radar warning. On the other hand, if it was in a radar area, and there was a judge stympathetic to the law...

I can't recall anyone being charged w/ this offense, but it may have happened. It's probably not the kind of thing you would see in the media.

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by Paulporsche

I can't recall anyone being charged w/ this offense, but it may have happened. It's probably not the kind of thing you would see in the media.

Nat'l Motorist Ass is monitoring a case now. Calif HP is waiting it out before writing more flashing tickets I believe.

[R. Aster]

It's better to be lucky than smart.

I was on my very first test drive after installing my Steve Wong chip (no, it wasn't to the dyno! Don't start with me! It feels faster so it is faster!) and ripping along fairly good on the local lanes that parallel the main Interstate lanes when I saw the cops were LIDARing folks in the main lanes.

The MD state cops don't even like to chase 'em down -- they were just gesturing folks to the shoulder. (Now, this is the narrow lefthand shoulder on a very busy Interstate. I'm sure safety is greatly increased by folks braking abruptly in the left lane and swerving off the road in a mild panic...)

Anyway, I sailed by at high speed way over on my side of the Jersey barrier, but I learned a lesson that day-- I'll never drive over the limit again. Well...

(I don't use a V1 or any detector anymore -- got pissed when they switched to LIDAR a lot around here rendering my two Passports worse than useless due to the false sense of security, as I found out when not so lucky one day. I think I'd get a V1 if they were either smaller, or, cheaper. They just seem like a big clunky thing to put on my dash for $400, and I used to tolerate an original Fuzzbuster box, which was about as big as a pint of milk and about as effective at detecting anything.)