Radar Detector Review

Radar detector reviewers and controversy

Radar-detector enthusiasts are a passionate group, and the experts at the foremost testing authority, Speed Measurement Laboratories, are fanatical in their attention to detail. Rarely do we see such devotion to critical analysis and pure love of research. This source thoroughly tests most of the latest detectors, although the results are sometimes not explained in a user-friendly way. An enthusiast group, GuysOfLidar.com, displays their detailed test results more clearly, but they have not updated their data this year.

Neither of these top sources makes specific recommendations. Instead, they present the information and let readers decide for themselves which radar detector best suits their needs. Well-known auto and electronics publications (including Automobile and Road & Track magazines, Wired and CNET) rate some radar detectors, but not many. Plentiful owner reviews at Amazon.com, Epinions.com, BestBuy.com and PC World may be the biggest help if you've narrowed your choices down to a few detectors.

Although manufacturers and users may claim otherwise, most people buy radar detectors for one reason -- to avoid speeding tickets. It's not surprising, then, that there's a bit of an outlaw mentality among the people who review radar detectors. Craig Peterson of RadarTest.com, has been accused of sabotaging a radar-detector field test by the editors of GuysOfLidar.com, who post a video on their website to back up the claim. Peterson's website offers a general statement in its About Us page that "no one qualified to offer an opinion has ever questioned his integrity," but there's no direct response to the specific GuysOfLidar.com allegations. The same page also brags that Peterson broke the speed limit to the tune of 84 mph (in the days of the 55 mph national speed limit) over 37 hours during a Boston-to-San Diego cannonball race.

Roy Reyer, a former police officer and proprietor of RadarBuster.com, is a prominent expert and tester of radar detectors. He, too, has had legal problems in the past, although not related to the use or review of radar detectors. Reyer pleaded guilty in 2001 to felony solicitation to commit computer tampering in connection with a satellite-TV fraud case, according to records from Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona. Reyer's sentence was suspended, and he was placed on probation for three years and ordered to pay restitution to DirecTV. Cases such as these can make it difficult for consumers to figure out which radar-detector reviewers are trustworthy. Despite this, we did choose to consult testing data and ratings put forth by Peterson and Reyer, but only in conjunction with test results we read elsewhere. We looked for common threads within multiple tests, choosing to recommend radar detectors that perform well across the review spectrum.

And then there are the dubious devices. Rocky Mountain Radar sells several so-called radar scramblers. The problem is that it's a federal felony to attempt to jam police radar. The Federal Communications Commission has cited Rocky Mountain Radar for selling illegal devices, but they're still for sale at BestBuy.com, Amazon.com and other mainstream retailers. Ironically, the Rocky Mountain Radar scrambler doesn't even work, according to tests of one model by CBS News and ABC's "20/20."

Although radar jammers are illegal, you can legally jam police laser guns in most states. But laser jammers are steeped in controversy. The manufacturer of the top-performing laser jammer in GuysOfLidar.com's 2008 test, the Laser Interceptor (*Est. $700 to $2,450), was accused in August 2009 of patent infringement by a rival company (see our Laser Jammers section). The parent corporation of the No. 2 performer, Laser Pro Park (*Est. $450 to $700), was dissolved by the U.K. government in February 2009. A poor performer in that test, the LaserStar, was accused of "spamming" on more than one car or radar-detector forum; by late 2009, it was no longer for sale.