Lasers on the road

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Awrrr
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#2001538 24-Apr-2018 12:10

Coil:

Rikkitic:

I don't care what you think. I'm not a racer and I don't normally speed. When I do go over the limit it is because I'm not thinking about it. If I wanted to get away with going fast I would employ other means.

You can get an Eroad unit which has posted speed and on screen speed so you can maintain your speed a lot better and have an audible warning when you go over the areas speed limit. Then you are not in the wrong.

http://www.eroad.co.nz/nz/solutions/health-and-safety/driver-safety/

I'm not bothered if people think I use a radar detector to break the law, but another reason I like it is because it gives me a (very) slight sense of power. Knowing where the police radar cars are even if I can't see them is a kick, albeit a very tiny one. It is like going nyah nyah I know something you don't. It appeals to the child in me.

People have police scanners for the same reason. Not because they intend to rob a bank, but because being able to listen in on the police makes them feel like part of a secret club. It is relatively harmless.

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hsvhel

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#2001575 24-Apr-2018 12:58

Rikkitic:

hsvhel:

Were you getting it with the V1 alot?

It depends on what you mean by a lot. Not constantly or continuously, but often enough that I didn't think it was police standing by the side of the road. I have now done some reading and it seems that laser detectors will become increasingly useless as more and more modern cars incorporate lasers as safety devices. It is probably the age of the NZ fleet that has prevented that from happening already.

I was close to 6 or so a day normal traffic driving, will now take note of what manufacturers are around me, likely something to do with newer cars, maybe a certain make. Got me interested

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Fred99

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#2001621 24-Apr-2018 13:17

hsvhel:

Rikkitic:

hsvhel:

Were you getting it with the V1 alot?

It depends on what you mean by a lot. Not constantly or continuously, but often enough that I didn't think it was police standing by the side of the road. I have now done some reading and it seems that laser detectors will become increasingly useless as more and more modern cars incorporate lasers as safety devices. It is probably the age of the NZ fleet that has prevented that from happening already.

I was close to 6 or so a day normal traffic driving, will now take note of what manufacturers are around me, likely something to do with newer cars, maybe a certain make. Got me interested

Stray/reflected light from laser levels used on building sites etc also seems to trigger the detector a friend of mine has in his car.

Jase2985

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#2001624 24-Apr-2018 13:27

Rikkitic:

I don't care what you think. I'm not a racer and I don't normally speed. When I do go over the limit it is because I'm not thinking about it. If I wanted to get away with going fast I would employ other means.

if you cant control your speed should you be driving? you shouldn't need another device to remind you do slow down, you have 2 of those, a speedo and your brain, and most people in modern cars have either a GPS unit or cruise control.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#2001637 24-Apr-2018 13:49

Are you just trying to pick a fight? I have an older car, can't afford a new one, and going a little over the speed limit without realising it does not mean lack of control. It happens to lots of people.

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Jase2985

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#2001658 24-Apr-2018 14:18

no i just cant grasp your logic.

can always drive slightly slower (couple of kph) so that when you do creep up in speed you are still outside of ticket material

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Rikkitic

Awrrr
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#2001659 24-Apr-2018 14:21

I often do but as I have stated, there are multiple reasons why I like my detector. If it ever breaks, I very much doubt I will replace it, but as long as it works, I like having it. I don't see a problem with that.

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Wheelbarrow01

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#2001680 24-Apr-2018 14:41

Let's face it, if you are stuck behind somebody doing 85-90kph in a 100kph zone, you are more than likely going to have to exceed the speed limit in order to pass them in a timely fashion - bearing in mind that the faster you can complete this maneouvre, the less time you are exposed to danger. Anyone who says they never ever exceed the speed limit while overtaking is, I suspect, being disingenuous.

Having a radar detector can help you work out the best place to do this without contributing to the state coffers in the process.

[EDIT: to what I originally intended to post, I can advise that my Ford Ranger Wildtrak has lasers all over it I think, for lane guidance and adaptive cruise control etc. The lower spec'd XL and XLT Rangers don't have these features - yet. With a whole new generation of utes (and other cars) about to hit the market later this year with these features as standard, you can expect radar/laser detectors to be quite vocal in future...

MikeAqua

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#2001732 24-Apr-2018 15:59

I always exceed the speed limit while overtaking including on passing lanes. This is to reduce time exposed to danger, but also to make sure I give people behind a chance to overtake too if they deem it safe to do so. There is a speed I always stay below, but I'm not going into that on here

I intensely despise people who overtake so slowly they use almost the entire passing lane. Or trucks who use the entire lane to pass another truck while a dozen cars are stuck behind them.

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Fred99

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#2001760 24-Apr-2018 16:36

MikeAqua:

I always exceed the speed limit while overtaking including on passing lanes. This is to reduce time exposed to danger, but also to make sure I give people behind a chance to overtake too if they deem it safe to do so. There is a speed I always stay below, but I'm not going into that on here

I intensely despise people who overtake so slowly they use almost the entire passing lane. Or trucks who use the entire lane to pass another truck while a dozen cars are stuck behind them.

I agree with you on that, but I'm not convinced a cop would - in fact I'm of the opinion that some cops - if you tried to explain that it was for safety - would take it out on you just for spite.

OTOH my (bad) recollections hence sometimes low expectation of road police cops was from when I was young, I'm reasonably sure they'd throw the book at you for minor things - when they'd have probably let an older person off - especially if driving a "respectable" vehicle.

Journeyman

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#2001782 24-Apr-2018 16:57

Amazing how this thread degenerated into judgmentalism.

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Fred99

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#2002058 25-Apr-2018 08:55

Journeyman:

Amazing how this thread degenerated into judgmentalism.

I'm not even slightly surprised...

It's a divisive issue - speeding is a major contributory cause of road deaths but according to popular opinion "it's just revenue gathering".

KiwiSurfer

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#2002331 25-Apr-2018 15:05

Fred99:

I agree with you on that, but I'm not convinced a cop would - in fact I'm of the opinion that some cops - if you tried to explain that it was for safety - would take it out on you just for spite.

A cop ticketed a friend of mine a few years back (while I was a passenger in his car) for going 110ish overtaking a slow vehicle. Caught my friend by surprise as he thought the rule was overtake as quickly/safely as you can and didn't realise the speed limit still applied during overtaking. I've (out of interest on long, straight roads with no opposing traffic) attempted overtakes at <=100kph and I feel much less safe doing do so compared to overtaking at say 110-120kph. Another example of the law of unintended consequences. Now I generally just stay behind slow vehicles and wait for the next passing lane and overtake then (often in tandem with 10-15+ other cars!).

Rikkitic

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#2002338 25-Apr-2018 15:18

I personally believe this is a case of a one size fits all law being wrong. I imagine it is this way because of all the morons who would otherwise try to justify unsafe overtaking manoeuvres.

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KiwiSurfer

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#2002343 25-Apr-2018 15:26

Fred99:

It's a divisive issue - speeding is a major contributory cause of road deaths but according to popular opinion "it's just revenue gathering".

My big issue with speeding tickets is that the current transport policing policy seems to be based on the idea speeding it is the singular direct cause of road deaths.

I don't dispute that speeding makes the outcomes of accidents worse—but I suggest speeding isn't usually the root cause the accident itself. For instance a driver might change lanes without indicating and ensuring the lane they're changing to has enough room for their car causing a major accident. Speeding increases the impact (e.g. # of deaths, extend of injuries, etc) of the accident—but did not cause it (and in fact the driver that caused the accident may not have been speeding in the first place).

I'd much rather see more effort being put into root cause prevention. Policing speeding seems to do very little to reduce the overall number of accidents—and only seems to lessen the impacts of said accidents which would most likely have occurred regardless of driving speeds. The reduction in deaths is often offset by increases in injuries suggesting that accidents aren't really decreasing overall.

My other issue is that what's easy to measure is often overused as a measure. Speeding is easy to measure. Other, more serious, driving behaviors is difficult to measure. So the predictable outcome is to focus on speeding. Cheaper and easier to set up automatic speed traps than it is to trap the sort driving behaviors that actually do cause accidents.

I personally would like to see police have access to more tools to detect a wider variety of poor driving—not just a narrow focus on speeding.

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