Tried searching around on this and couldn't find anything. Does anyone know what the law says about radar detectors?

Its legal in WA unless you are driving a big rig. I have a Passport 8500 hardwired and mounted up above my rv mirror. It has saved my butt many times so far. Unless you drive a 18 wheeler you are okay in WA. For some reason quite a few people in WA think that its illegal. Do you think they would be allowed to sell them at your local Best Buy if that were the case? Here is what I could find on the net. :)

http://www.rdrop.com/users/tedpet/radar.htm

nothing... i've got pulled over because of laser.... had mine sitting there and the cop said. "That $250 was well spent on that detector"

now i don't really know if there is a law, but i have been pulled over many times... nothing has been done.

Originally posted by mmmprza
nothing... i've got pulled over because of laser.... had mine sitting there and the cop said. "That $250 was well spent on that detector"
now i don't really know if there is a law, but i have been pulled over many times... nothing has been done.

IF you have been pulled over "many of times" and you have a radar detector, you need to throw it away and buy a new one, or quit speeding. ;) In WA, it is legal to have a RD. It is illegal to have a scrambler. If you get pulled over, and have a radar detector in the car, you are most likely going to get a ticket.

That is why window tinting is a good idea.....remove from window as you are pulling over and just stash under seat, best to remove the suction cups as well.

Originally posted by Microbomb
... For some reason quite a few people in WA think that its illegal. Do you think they would be allowed to sell them at your local Best Buy if that were the case? Here is what I could find on the net. :)

http://www.rdrop.com/users/tedpet/radar.htm

People get confused because it's NOT legal in WA DC. And they would still be sold everywhere. It's not illegal to sell something that's legal to possess. Example: radar jammer, gun silencer.

and as a side note, as I entered Ft. Lewis yesterday, a MP looked inside the car and asked me to remove the radar detector from my window. Guess it is only 'mostly' legal in washington. =)

Oh yeah, you can't use them on military bases. That is a federal law not a state law.

"That is why window tinting is a good idea.....remove from window as you are pulling over and just stash under seat, best to remove the suction cups as well."

I wouldn't want to do that and make the cop crazy, he'll either...
A: Think you're stashing some weed under the seat, and ask to search.
or
B: Think you are grabbing a gun.

Why else would someone suddenly grab something off their dash and hide it real quick?

yeah, your best bet is to keep your hands where the cop can see them, and take your 50 lashes like a grownup.

Polica officers dont like it very much when you are rooting all around the interior of your car as they make their approach.
Something about getting shot multiple times in the chest kinda turns them off from the whole subject.

Check your insurance company's policy as well. I've heard that some won't cover your car if you are found to be using a detector.

Thanks for the replies folks.

A. The only device worth buying is a http://www.valentine1.com/
B. If you get pulled over don't expect EVER getting a warning if you have a radar detector, most cops consider your radar detector the only warning you get.

I cannot stress A enough. The valentine one is the only detector on the market worth having in your car. Anything else is like bying a parrakeet and let it fly around inside your car can chirp randomly.

Im going to have to disagree about the V1. I think it is a great product and a fine radar detector, however I feel that the Passport 8500 is as good. You will find conflicting evidence about the two and it seems everyone has an opinion. I did a ton of research before I bought my 8500 and I personally feel that it suits my needs perfectly. Saying anything else is like having a parakeet randomly chirping in your car is a little off. My 8500 has proven to me many times it can perform.

Just picked up a ZR3 today. Hopefully I will install it tomorrow and get out on the road and blank out some laser guns ASAP! :cool:

http://members.aol.com/cky211//zr3.jpg

Yes, the 8500 is great and will work together with the ZR3. Escort also makes other units that install into the car so no one knows you have it. I mount the 8500 in the window where I can easily reach it. It comes down if I get stopped.


-Scott


radar test.com (http://www.detectortest.com/)

Escort Inc. (http://www.escortstore.com/)

"In WA, it is legal to have a RD. It is illegal to have a scrambler. If you get pulled over, and have a radar detector in the car, you are most likely going to get a ticket."

??????
12 replies and I am not sure if this thing is legal or illegal??

Originally posted by STI_Jaguar
"In WA, it is legal to have a RD. It is illegal to have a scrambler. If you get pulled over, and have a radar detector in the car, you are most likely going to get a ticket."

??????
12 replies and I am not sure if this thing is legal or illegal??

if this thing, you mean a detector then yes its legal, if thats not what you mean than i am confused.

Radar detectors are LEGAL
Radar jammers are ILLEGAL
Laser jammers are LEGAL in most states <-- edit: it's legal in WA, just to let people know

I just bought a Passport 8500 x50 :D

I can't seem to find anything specific in the RCW about detectors or jammers...bugger

I think that's because the only laws that affect radar/laser in WA are federal. IIRC, the law regarding detectors in big rigs is federal and radar/laser jamming is controlled by the FCC not the states. It's stupid to think that only one detector is acceptable, all of them have flaws and benefits.

Yeah, cops never think about the possibility that they don't get a lot of people with detectors... but if they were objective they wouldn't be cops. =)

Originally posted by Blackie Onassis
I can't seem to find anything specific in the RCW about detectors or jammers...bugger
It's FCC laws, and it does not specifically say jammers are illegal. It is illegal to have a non-FCC compliant device that transmits. Now laser jammer is not really a jammer, more of a spunge :)

From what I've seen laser jammers are really are jammers (they certainly transmit), but the FCC can't control that wavelengths that high.

after some research it seems that Blinder X-treme M40 is pretty good. and i got either this or m20 in my garage:eek: have not had time to install on this car yet...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but anything that is a Laser detector or scrambler I would think is worthless.

By the time a laser detector detects the beam your done aren't you?

As far as scrambler how would that work?

For laser defense I would think you would want to;

1) remove the front license plate since it is reflective and I believe its what they are aiming for with a laser.

2) Possibly find some sort of license plate diffuser. where it appears clear, but defracts light in different directions.

3) Possibly a dull black bra on the hood of the car?

4) Find someone at boeing to paint the nose of your car with a the same stuff they put on the stealth fighters. :lol:

I've read either Car and Driver or Motortrend reviews of radar detectors in the past and Valentine1 always appears to be the best. I've also read a review of radar jammers, and they didn't work so well.

If anyone has seen anything on Laser detectors/jammers I'd be very intersted on a hands on test.

I've seen several tests that show a decent laser jammers can work okay, including http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleID=8502.

Valentine vs. Escort has been discussed to death on other parts of the board... I've owned both and selling the Valentine made me very happy.

Motortrend articles can be bought by any corporation. The magazine only exists so it can be cited in advertisements.

BTW, I tend to have my license plate angled towards the ground a little, can't hurt any. Supposedly having a black car helps too.

Sheesh 405 looked like a police state this morning. Glad I usually ride my bike to work, the stupid donut patrols are getting WAY out of hand in the PNW. Got to see part of a chase in Lynnwood last night though (with the cops driving like morons as usual).

Originally posted by Kraziken
Correct me if I'm wrong, but anything that is a Laser detector or scrambler I would think is worthless.

By the time a laser detector detects the beam your done aren't you?

As far as scrambler how would that work?

For laser defense I would think you would want to;

1) remove the front license plate since it is reflective and I believe its what they are aiming for with a laser.

2) Possibly find some sort of license plate diffuser. where it appears clear, but defracts light in different directions.

3) Possibly a dull black bra on the hood of the car?

4) Find someone at boeing to paint the nose of your car with a the same stuff they put on the stealth fighters. :lol:

I've read either Car and Driver or Motortrend reviews of radar detectors in the past and Valentine1 always appears to be the best. I've also read a review of radar jammers, and they didn't work so well.

If anyone has seen anything on Laser detectors/jammers I'd be very intersted on a hands on test.

Unfortunately, you have to have a front plate and you're not allowed to have any sort of cover over it...not even clear. I've heard something about how high beams really mess up lasers....anyone know?

From all that I've read, the Valentine and the Escort are evenly matched. Some say the Passport is better, some say the Valentine is better. With the new Passport 8500 x50, software upgrades will also be available. So they are even more closely matched. I bought the x50 because they are evenly matched and it was much cheaper. Check out ebay for some incredible prices. The x50 is a better value...it comes with more features, like the smartcord. The Valentine has that option, but it costs an extra $30 or $40. The Valentine prides itself on the arrows. For people like me, if you've never had the arrows, you could careless. My friend has a Valentine and the design seems very outdated to me. He said that he regrets buying the Valentine. If you have two detectors that are common accepted as the two best in the market, why not buy the one that is over $100 cheaper?

....I really hope this doesn't turn into an argument about which is better...but I guess it is my fault....sorry

Silver04WRX- The regular 8500 was supposed to have updates too, but to my knowledge it never has...

The Valentine and 8500 cords are worth what you pay. ;) The Valentine gives you an actual remote display, the 8500 gives you just a mute button and a flashing light. I'd pay $40 for an 8500 cord that was as good as the V1's.

srf: the remote display would be useless if it was that low...and its pretty bulky...the x50 has various brightness settings, so you can still leave it on and have it be dim at night. Does the Valentine have that (asking because I don't know)? I thought it only had full brightness and dark. They are developing an upgrade for the 8500 to the x50.

.....we should probably stop right now....people are gonna get mad

I believe the V1 automatically adjusts brightness, but you can't control it manually. There's some sensor behind the display. So if one wants stealth you may be screwed. =)

Remote display would be useless if it was that low? I don't follow...

Agreed the V1's remote display is larger than the 8500's, though it didn't seem bulky to me (maybe twice the frontal area of the 8500's).

Originally posted by srf
Remote display would be useless if it was that low? I don't follow...


There's no point in having all that info so low. You have to look down to see. The x50 eliminates the need to do that. They give you the mute button low so you don't have to reach to the windshield, yet they still let you read off of the unit in any brightness...you can keep your eyes on the road. The dimmest display works very well at night and does not stand out to those behind you.

Ok, we're done, agreed?

Last weekend, I drove my STI, with my new 8500 X50 up to Washington (Vancouver from Portland), to look for radar, and just see how it worked. (They'd been advertising on the news all week about the extended "safety" patrols in WA during the Memorial Day weekend.) I've never had a radar detector before...

As an aside, I was also able to fill my own $#&^@ gas for a change!

Not trusting the detector yet, I set my cruise at 75MPH by the speedometer (speed limit was 70 by this point, north of Vancouver). My GPS has shown the speedo to be off by a pretty reliable 5%, which put me at around 71-72.

I was in the rightmost lane (which belonged pretty much to just me and some truckers; WA drivers are the only drivers that I've seen who are worse than OR drivers about lane discipline), and was passed pretty slowly by a Cavalier or something. After a bit, he pulled into the rightmost lane in front of me. A couple of minutes later, I saw an unmarked Crown Victoria, lights blazing, coming up quickly in the leftmost lane. The Cavalier took the next exit, and the cop then cut across all three lanes to follow him. I don't think that the Cavalier ever went more than about 75.

Not a peep from my radar detector through all of this. It did go off earlier while I was driving on highway 30. About half a mile later, I saw a sheriff facing out of a parking lot, but the detector didn't go off as I passed him. So either he had his radar turned off by that time, or something else set off the detector.

So, it's too late to make a long story short, but my question is: Do you think that the Cavalier was indeed pulled over for speeding, and how did they catch him? I don't think that they use air patrols around here.

BTW, I currently have the detector mounted somewhat low on the windshield. It's as high up as I can get it, to where it is still in the "shadow" of the hood scoop (which on an STI, is pretty substantial). Is it likely that the detector is too shielded from the front in this position?

Jason

ejasons

I have a solo II and I use cups to mount it between the mirror and ceiling. the hirgher the better IMO.

I also have a little rubber bumpstop thing on the ceiling so I can tap the detector and the bumpstop presses the mute button so it isn't howling all the time.

that stretch of road from PDX to seattle is THE worst. I drive it for work a few times a month and the solo II has saved me innumerable times...

jim