Radar Avoidance

[David Head]

I'm currently driving 1200-1600 miles a week through some of the
thickest radar coverage in the nation (So Georgia/No, Florida).
Sometimes I feel like a B-17 trying to reach the Ploesti oil fields...
Love the Valentine 1 - nothing will give me solid consistant solid info
like it. The range on the V1 gives me well over a mile warning about 90%
of the time. An active REO will tag a car within that 30-40 second time
period and I'll pick it up.
That said, there is also no substitute for situational awareness and
common sense. I almost never 'lead the pack'. I drive fast, don't wind
through traffic. I don't display remarkable 'closing speed'. I watch
what the truckers are doing if I don't have the CB on. I think through
what time of day it is, what day of the week and how aggressive the
enforcement might be. Mondays and Tuesdays are normally light days.
Thursdays through Saturdays are heavy. Best time of the day to speed -
first 2 hours of darkness. Meal hours are good times, along with shift
changes. Light rain is awesome - nobody likes to get wet.
High speed long distance driving takes a heavy toll - I normally keep it
around 85 these days with 90-95 conditional on some flashy idiot 1/2
mile ahead of me. I'll be leaving in under an hour for a 300 mile early
morning run that will take 3.5 hours. The first 40 minutes of that will
be clearing Orlando. If the FHP aren't 'swarming' I'll still run into 12
or so units, 4-5 areas being known revenue speed traps/'enforcement
zones'. Through that time I'll often 'surprise' a patrolman - but with
good brakes and non stupid behavior, along with driving a classy non
threatening car I'll earn a pass.
Enforcement in Georgia has gotten so bad that the police have actually
made driving more dangerous. No one will drive in the inside lane of a 3
lane highway. Aggressive speeders stay in the slow lane and carve their
way through traffic.