Is it bad to have a radar detector in your car?

However, it looks kinda ugly to have a long cable dangling down your windshield and dash and it can get in the way of using your stereo. It also makes it obvious to others while driving or parked that you have a detector so many people take their RD’s down when parking and put it back up every time they get back in their car.

Why do you need to hardwire a radar detector?

Why should you hardwire a radar detector? Radar detectors need to be plugged in for power and generally ship with a cigarette lighter plug to make it easy to power your detector. However, it looks kinda ugly to have a long cable dangling down your windshield and dash and it can get in the way of using your stereo.

Can a police officer detect a radar signal?

The only way for you to detect the signal is if the police officer decided to leave the speed radar turned on or they targeted a vehicle close to you. Radar detectors are extremely effective and they are used by a lot of people, but you cannot completely guarantee that one would protect you from the watchful gaze of police officers.

Where do you run the fuse on a radar detector?

You’ll generally want to run the wires from your fuse box, up your A-pillar, across your headliner, and into your radar detector. Often times you can simply tuck the wires behind the body panels, but sometimes you may have to remove panels to get the cleanest install. (Note: Make sure your wire doesn’t run over top of the airbag in your A-pillar!)

Why does my radar detector freak out when I see new cars?

Seriously: Take a radar detector down a road in a nice area, where people tend to have new cars. Every time you see a Mercedes, or a BMW — in fact, most Fords and Chevys, these days — your radar detector will freak out. The number of false positives has gone from “annoying but acceptable” to “please shut up so I can listen to my music.”

What happens when you shut off your radar detector?

Or if it was, most officers shut off the radar while they’re out of the car on a traffic stop or when using it in instant-on mode. With the radar off there was no signal to detect and your detector stayed quiet. Another possibility is that the officer was using a laser or VASCAR.

Can a radar detector be mounted on the windshield?

Other states limit the use of the radar detectors like whether it can be mounted on the windshield or not the weight benchmark of vehicles allowed to have one. But for most states, passenger vehicles under 10,000 pounds are allowed to have radar detectors. Read on for specific exceptions.

Are there any radar detectors that are undetectable?

There’s different classes or tiers of detectability it seems. It’s not always a black and white answer to whether or not a detector is undetectable. One of the most easily detectable radar detectors I’ve tested to date is the Whistler CR93.