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Man Buys Premium Radar Detector. It Fails: ‘They Just Clocked Me Doing 180 In A 30’

"Bro they just clocked me..."

Man buys premium radar detector. It fails

Photo by: azbdbjunior & Michael Förtsch

Braden Bjella

By: Braden Bjella

Oct 11, at 4:00am ET

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No matter how careful of a driver you are, you’re probably going to break the speed limit every once in a while. Some drivers rely on speed detectors to ideally help them reduce the risk of getting a ticket.

It didn’t work for one man, he says. Now he’s warning others that the premium radar detector might not save you from a ticket.

Often, keeping pace with traffic means going over the speed limit. According to a study published by AAA, about half of drivers agreed that following the flow of traffic was more important than staying under the speed limit. This often requires exceeding the supposed limit; the study claimed that many drivers stated that going 10 mph over the speed limit was acceptable, with some even saying that 25 mph above may be tolerable in certain circumstances.

But if this is really the case, someone should tell the police. While some states have “flow of traffic” laws that make it legal to contest a speeding ticket if you were at the same pace as other vehicles, many do not. This means that if you are just a few miles per hour over the speed limit, the police can ticket you.

This is why some drivers choose to invest in radar detectors.

But do they always work? One man says he learned the hard way that the answer is no.

Did A Radar Detector Fail?

In a video with over 137,000 views, TikTok creator @azbdbjunior says that he’s “cooked” because his radar detector failed him.

“Bro. They just clocked me in at 180 in a 30,” he says.

The video shows him being pulled over by a police officer. In the text overlay, he says he “bought the Uniden R8 for no reason.”

“All my radar’s fault,” he claims in the overlay text. In the caption, he adds, “I need my refund ASAP to pay bail.”

Can This Really Happen?

This video may be a joke. However, there are many radar detectors on the market. While they may be effective, they’re not guaranteed to keep you from getting a ticket.

The specific radar detector mentioned in the video is the Uniden R8. This radar detector claims that it can detect police radar signals, even if they are miles away and in dense urban areas. This allows drivers to have forewarning of speed enforcement. From here, they can choose to slow down or take another route.

While products like these can be effective, they’re not perfect. They can occasionally give false positives, for instance. These detectors may also be limited in their ability to detect laser speed measurements.

Finally, even if the reading is accurate, it may not provide drivers with enough time to slow down.

If you’re really in a situation where you’re going 120 in a 30, however, the police aren’t going to need a radar gun to stop you. Cops don’t generally need to establish your exact speed before pulling you over. Several cases have established that, if police see you obviously and dramatically exceeding the speed limit, they can pursue and ticket you, likely clocking your speed in the process.

How Can You Prevent Speeding Tickets?

It may sound simple, but the best way to avoid speeding tickets is simply not speeding.

Many people love driving fast. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Driving at higher speeds dramatically increases your fatality risk in an accident. Even small increases in speed can also make a crash more dangerous.

Some may think that keeping pace with traffic is safer than maintaining the speed limit.

Yet there’s little evidence that this is true.

So you can invest in a radar detector to ideally reduce your risk of getting pulled over. Or you can simply obey the speed limit—and save that “pedal to the floor” mentality for the Autobahn.

Other Drivers Say It’s His Fault

In the comments section of the video, other drivers claimed that it was the TikToker’s fault that he was pulled over—either because he was speeding, or because he actually followed police instruction.

“That’s on you for stopping,” one person said.

“Radar only works if they using it,” noted another. “If they see you they just wait [til the] last second to turn it on.”

What do you think?

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Comments

“You were going 180. Even if the radar worked, no way you were losing 150mph by the time they locked your speed,” offered a third.

We’ve reached out to @azbdbjunior via TikTok direct message and comment, and Uniden via email.

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