Speed detector

[Gwilliamlloyd]

Can anyone recommend a good speed detector / radar detector?

[andy43]

Gwilliamlloyd said:

Can anyone recommend a good speed detector / radar detector?

No, but Waze has saved my bacon a few times including user-reported roadside vans/a handheld gun hidden in a bus stop etc. I don’t drive without it now.
I’ve never been convinced a detector would actually save you in time to reduce speed. The detectors I used to have went off every time I drove past a shop with automatic doors and the modern lasers the police use now can operate from miles away.

[x5tuu]

Id echo the above - the days of RoadAngel etc. are pretty much gone now - replaced by apps and crowd-sourced reporting which is much more effective and can be seen from a distance.

I also am a big fan of Waze and have used it extensively all over the world for over 10yrs now with great success and many saves!

[BIRMA]

I bought one of the first Road Angels and it saved me countless times , bought my last one about two years ago and haven’t bothered to renew the subscription. These days as said above Waze seems to do the job very well

[LittleBigPlanet]

andy43 said:

Gwilliamlloyd said:

Can anyone recommend a good speed detector / radar detector?

No, but Waze has saved my bacon a few times including user-reported roadside vans/a handheld gun hidden in a bus stop etc. I don’t drive without it now.
I’ve never been convinced a detector would actually save you in time to reduce speed. The detectors I used to have went off every time I drove past a shop with automatic doors and the modern lasers the police use now can operate from miles away.

Is Waze significantly better than say Google Maps (which also allows user-entered data re camera positions and includes warnings)?

[Baldchap]

Depending on car you might have the data available to you already.

My car does speed camera warnings in the HUD. Never missed one yet.

[Kart16]

Gwilliamlloyd said:

Can anyone recommend a good speed detector / radar detector?

Do you need just a radar or a laser jammer too?

[IanH755]

Outside of Google/Waze etc there's specific apps also available which are dedicated to just Camera locations, with user updatable (and shared) info for mobile camera and adding/removing static ones.

I use CamSam for that, which has both a free and paid version.

[Kart16]

andy43 said:

I’ve never been convinced a detector would actually save you in time to reduce speed. The detectors I used to have went off every time I drove past a shop with automatic doors and the modern lasers the police use now can operate from miles away.

You are misunderstanding things here. Automatic doors use Ka frequency, that is also used by radar speed guns. These speed guns can work from far away, which a good radar detector can comfortably detect much earlier than the speed reading. The speed guns based on laser technology are completely different. And no, they cannot be used from “miles away”, in fact their range is shorter than radar.

[blueg33]

LittleBigPlanet said:

Is Waze significantly better than say Google Maps (which also allows user-entered data re camera positions and includes warnings)?

Yes in my opinion. I have tested it by running both apps at the same time on car play. Waze is also better at warning about potholes and re-routing if there is a traffic problem.

Its much easier and quicker to submit a report of mobile cameras on waze than on google. I do prefer googles, mapping and overall look though.

[alfa145uk]

Waze is great for the UK, and also CamSam...however both didn't do so good for me recently in France this year - for many cameras static cameras CamSam didn't go off, and on Waze - statics show as police cars and a few mobiles weren't there. Apparantly there is some EU regulation that means mobile locations need to be delayed before they can be added to Waze or something.

I've since subscribed to PocketGPS speed camera database - it has a decent Android app that starts when bluetooth connects to the car, alerts can go out of the phone or via bluetooth and gives sensible distance/speed based alerts - It seems quite decent so far

[Zedboy]

BIRMA said:

I bought one of the first Road Angels and it saved me countless times , bought my last one about two years ago and haven’t bothered to renew the subscription. These days as said above Waze seems to do the job very well

Same here ... RoadAngel smart motorway alerts and live average speed data keeps my subs being paid!

[nutsyH]

But for Waze and Google maps to work for camera notifications, don't you need set them up for your route every time you drive? If not, can anyone tell me how else they work? I currently use Road Angel, but find that the speed limits displayed are very often incorrect as they dont seem able to keep up with what are now constant RSL changes.

[andy43]

As long as it’s running on your screen Waze tells you about ‘dangers’ whether you’re using it for nav or not. I’d guess google would be exactly the same.
I use Waze because I did read it uses less data than google and has more drivers as users - how true that is I dunno.

[Ham_and_Jam]

nutsyH said:

But for Waze and Google maps to work for camera notifications, don't you need set them up for your route every time you drive? If not, can anyone tell me how else they work? I currently use Road Angel, but find that the speed limits displayed are very often incorrect as they dont seem able to keep up with what are now constant RSL changes.

It runs passively in the background. I.e. as long as the app is running it will display traffic and speed info that is in the database and live info that’s been reported by other users. You don’t need to put in any navigation details.

In my experience it works, obviously, in high traffic areas where more users are likely to be reporting. Although it only takes one other user to have reported to make that important piece of info.

[nutsyH]

Thanks. I assumed that once the phone screen turns off, notifications would stop. Obvs the screen stays on when in navigation mode.

[KTMsm]

I had most of the speed detectors back in the day

They haven't improved and they would get set off multiple times every trip. So in the end you just ignored them

I use Waze now