Safe Speed Forums

This poll is purely intended to establish how widespread the take-up of GPS speed camera detectors is.

I have deliberately tried to split it between high-mileage and average/low-mileage drivers.

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Might also be interesting to know if people with ordinary detectors are thinking of changing to a GPS type. FWIW I'm in that category. I've been in a car with an Origin B2, and I was very impressed. It knocks my radar/lidar detector into a cocked hat, mainly just because of the amount of false alarms mine gives drives me up the wall (might be going a bit wonky since it never used to be this bad). GPS types are still a bit pricey for me though.

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

I'm a high mileage driver and I'm "thinking about getting one". (That's my answer.)

But I'm not thinking "very seriously" about getting one, and I don't have "specific plans" to get one, so I sort of fell between two catagories there.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I fall into the "I drive more than 15000 miles a year and currently have one" category - I have a TomTom navigator for satellite navigation, to which I've added the freely available overlays of cameras (along with CheckPOInt to provide the warnings as you approach them).

I'm the same, really. I have thought about it, but given that I have over twenty years' conviction-free driving and apart from holidays don't do a lot of driving on unfamiliar roads there doesn't seem to be a lot of point.

If I had managed to accumulate six points, or if work or family circumstances meant that I was driving a lot more in unfamiliar areas, I might take a different view.

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

I drive over 100,000 miles per year for a living. Some years ago I purchased a radar detector and I found it to be virtually useless, with all the false alarms and very little warning. I bought an origin B2 and I can honestly say it's excellent.

I am the one person in this poll who drives more than 15000miles/year who has no plans to buy one. But having looked at the Origin B2, I must say it does look like an impressive piece of kit, but the price including VAT was given as £429.94, which is of course a great deal of money. I don't mind cruising on motorways at 90, or ignoring idiotic speed limits introduced as part of the Prescottisation of our driving environment, but I tend not to exceed 40 where there are houses/driveways/children etc. And until we began to be Prescottised, if I saw a speed limit, I'd assume it was there for a reason - other than to catch people to raise revenue.

As a result, I have never been prosecuted for speeding in this country since learning to drive in 1971, and I've always been a 20,000miles/year driver. I was stopped twice - both times in the 1970s, and both times by a police motorbike. One time I was let go with a friendly word, and the other time I got a written warning but no prosecution. In cases like these, a speed camera detector would not help.

However, living/working in the USA 1980-82, I got stopped 4 times in 18 months! The speed limits over there were rather lower than here, and were rigorously enforced. Although the national speed limit at that time was 55, I never fell foul of that. It tended to be places where they have a speed limit for a few yards - just because there's an S-bend. But again, three out of these four incidents involved pursuit, ie. no radar was involved.

So in 33 years of driving, I've been prosecuted for speeding only once when a speed trap detection device would have helped me.

If I were going to buy a device of this type, it would have to work perfectly to interest me - no silly false alarms, so I'd get the Origin B2 based on the glowing reports I see here. Is it really as good as they say it is? Is there any new speed camera technology in the pipeline that the Origin B2 would not detect?

If the status quo could be maintained, I probably wouldn't bother with a camera detector. But given the hostile, money grabbing attitude of the current government towards motorists, and given that a third term of this government is not unlikely, I might be tempted to reconsider.

I've only one of these in a family member's car, and his kit does come with a laser detector. That aside it isn't actually detecting anything at all. All it's doing is remembering the locations of all all speed traps and keeping track of it's own position. Since it knows where it is all the time it knows when it's approaching a trap of any kind, and this would still be true for any new breed of trap regardelss of the technology used. I think if you come across one that it doesn't warn you about it's likely to be a new installation. IIRC you press a button to add it to the memory, and when you next update the thing it'll add that new location for other B2 owners who update after that. The only "technology" it really can't cope with is blue suited blokes in battenburg marked Volvos and similar, but let's face it, you have to be incredibly unlucky to come across any of those.

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

LOL!

Hi Folks
I drive 15k+ a year and bought the origin B2 6 months ago. I have to recomend it, great piece of kit. A GPS detector is only as good as the updates you download and origin are very quick to get new camera sights uploaded. The customer service is first rate also. I originally ordered the B2 solo with the built in gps receiver which worked for two days (avoid that option). Origin replaced the receiver with the dashbord mounted version free through the post the next day. Full marks

Cheers Sean

_________________
If your going to enter Valhalla do it in a decent motor!

I've driven more than 15,000 miles during the past eight weeks (it's been a busy period in terms of new car deliveries) but I haven't yet given any serious consideration to buying any speed camera detecting devices.

Take care all,
Dave.

Just found out I can get speed camera overlays and voice warning linked to current speed added to my satnav system for a very small fee so I may have to change my vote.

Hello - just following this thread with interest. I've just bought a BMW Navigator 2, as that is the only one you can use on the R1200RT, and want to get a Speed camera overlay for it. Anyone have any info on that? I gather it's possible but not entirely straightforward.
Philip Andrews.

I'm a low mileage driver and I use a camera database on my sat nav, updated regularly

Hello, for everyone else reading, and myself of course, could you tell me what database it is, and where you got it from?
Philip Andrews.

Not sure if you'd already checked but the PocketGPS Speed Camera Database page has instructions on how to get it working with various Sat-Nav systems (e.g. TomTom, Navman, Garmin etc.). I use this and also download the overlays from POIplace as well.

Best thing about these is the price.. FREE!!

It is interesting that the latest issue of the IAM magazine Advanced Driving has a "reader offer" for a Cyclops GPS camera locator system.

Now who would have thought that a few years ago?

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed