Radar debate

[delvallef]

Folks,

Please settle an argument for me. A guy at work and I are debating whether a radar detector can "beat" instant-on radar.

He says it can but his answer is based on the fact that the detector will go off once the beam is detected.

I say, even if the beam is detected a speed has already been obtained. Plus, the driver's reflexes won't be fast enough to slow down in time when the detector goes off.

All knowledge and experiences are appreciated.

Thanks.

[Tennsix]

A good radar operator can burn you with "instant on" However, it doesn't really matter. By the time your detector has activated the cop has you in his/her sights. And if you get pulled over while using a dectector, you will almost certainly get a ticket.

Think of it ths way... The beep means, "the cops just got you"

[jakflak]

It will register the speed at the same time the detector goes off. He won't have a chance to slow down.

[Da Po-po]

Keep in mind that the radar beam is traveling at the speed of sound, so realistically, by the time the radar detector goes off, the beam has already bounced back to the radar and a reading obtained. Add in the 1.6 second reaction time, and you are toast. The only benefit a radar detector can give you is if it happens to detect a stray radar beam bouncing off something else, but the way the darn things go off all the time for nothing, they are really useless. To make things easier for your arguement, once I learned how the radar works I got rid of mine the same day.

[PTI]

Not to be too technical but radar travels at the speed of light, which is 186,000 miles per second, not the speed of sound. That makes it even more difficult to get your foot to the brake pedal before I lock in the speed.

[Bobecc]

All a radar detector is good for is to let you know which stores have automatic opening doors

[Da Po-po]

Not to be too technical but radar travels at the speed of light, which is 186,000 miles per second, not the speed of sound. That makes it even more difficult to get your foot to the brake pedal before I lock in the speed.

Not to be too technical, but RADAR works off of radio/sound waves, thus the wave travels at the speed of sound. LASER (or LIDAR) is infra-red light, so the beam there travels at the speed of light.

I agree, however, the difference is negligible in the grand scheme of things.

[mobrien316]

Not to be too technical, but RADAR works off of radio/sound waves, thus the wave travels at the speed of sound. LASER (or LIDAR) is infra-red light, so the beam there travels at the speed of light.

I agree, however, the difference is negligible in the grand scheme of things.

Actually, PTI is correct. All electromagnetic radiation (including radio waves) travels at the speed of light, not the speed of sound. Check out this link.

[Da Po-po]

Not to be too much of a dorkus, but I stand corrected. Thanks for the info. I will accept the floggings with a smile.

[mobrien316]

Not to be too much of a dorkus, but I stand corrected. Thanks for the info. I will accept the floggings with a smile.

Accepting a correction does NOT make one a dorkus!

Everyone makes mistakes. The only idiots are the ones who refuse to admit it.

[PTI]

Accepting a correction does NOT make one a dorkus!

Everyone makes mistakes. The only idiots are the ones who refuse to admit it.

But I will still administer my flogging

[BlueFlare77]

Not to be too technical, but RADAR works off of radio/sound waves, thus the wave travels at the speed of sound. LASER (or LIDAR) is infra-red light, so the beam there travels at the speed of light.

I agree, however, the difference is negligible in the grand scheme of things.

Not to be too technical either. But Radar travels at approximately 186,000 miles per hour in a vacuum.

However, there is also another factor - obstruction and distortion. The greater wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation, the more likely it is to be distorted or obstructed. At that point, it doesn't matter what speed it travels at, but whether it travels at all.