Dan's Little Secret

[Fringe Ryder <fringe@fringeweb.com>]

I too have spent the $400 on a Valentine V1.  I don't usually pay much
attention to speed laws, nor have I gotten tickets until I moved to Seattle.
Washington State is rather aggressive about their revenue sources.  I got
zapped at 53 when in reality I was actually near the limit of 35.

Two things:

1) The V1 is great.  You'll quickly learn where the radars are, and you'll
try to figure out what the sources of the regular blips on your route are.
I'm sure it will save your butt, much more so than any other detector.

2) FIGHT that ticket.  Tickets are easier to fight in California than in
Washington, since the cop has to show up AND remember what happened, but
when I last fought a ticket, four years ago, I proved that the cop had lied
(based on his testimony AND his cite book) and yet still lost the case
because I couldn't prove I hadn't broken the law.  Folks, this is why people
shoot cops.  Our law enforcement/judiciary is corrupt, vile, and evil.  They
are merely our hired bullies that we try to keep focused on criminals.  So
when I got this ticket, I hired a lawyer (my own non-violent bully) who
would shoot legalese instead of bullets.  (I'm the voting type, the
working-for-change type, and, in cases like this, the vengeful type, but I'm
not the killing type.)

The ticket would have been $180, plus increased insurance.  I'm single, over
30, and drive a '97 2.8L stick A4Q.  That insurance hit would probably be
quite a bit.  Total cost of fighting the ticket, which I won this past
Tuesday, was $300.  I came out ahead (or at least only $300 total behind),
and it was simple.

Use the V1.  But if you do get a ticket, hire a lawyer.

(Note: I don't think -this- cop was corrupt.  I saw the radar reading, and
anybody doing 53mph in this neighborhood -should- be ticketed.
Unfortunately, I know from the prior experience that receiving the ticket is
the same as a conviction in some circuses.... um, venues.)

>From: Dan Simoes <dans@ans.net>

>I want to share a tip with those of you who like me, eschew the 
>US speed limits.  As you know, the Valentine One is reputed to
>be the best detector out there, by far.  But until you use one,
>you will never know how great it is.  The ability to count
>multiple "bogeys", to pinpoint where they are (front/rear/side),
>and another one I discovered today - I was cruising down the
>parkway at about 80, other cars doing about 65-70, when I got a quick
>"deetdeetdeet".  I was able to nail the brakes and slow down enough so
>that when the detector switched to "deeeeeeeeeee" mode (signalling a
>radar lock, in Top Gun terms) I knew I was OK.