I’d been thinking lately about selling both my V1 and my “other brand” backup detector, then depositing the proceeds into the “shiny new detector fund.” Because I’ve been driving a company truck without a radar detector for so long, I had forgotten about the arrows and why they’re so useful.
Then, a couple of nights ago when driving home from my new job in my new car, I was starkly reminded. Coming down the freeway at, well, a teensy bit over, I got a Ka hit from behind. I slowed and dropped out of the fast lane; 15-20 seconds later a CHP trooper passed on my left. I was just about ready to declare victory when I got another Ka. No problem, the cop was in front of me, right?
I had my V1 clipped to the passenger-side visor at the time, so I mostly relied on the audio alerts. But I glanced over this time, and saw the arrow pointing behind me.
What?!
I briefly thought V1 was falsing (I had an agonizing encounter with a tailgater running a bargain-brand detector earlier in the day, with V1 screaming about Ka right behind for several miles). But just in case, I slowed, and to my surprise, about 45 seconds later a second Chippy blew past me with Ka screaming. A two-cop trap! Brilliant!
I pulled back into the left lane and accelerated again to maybe 10 over, figuring that was the end of the double teaming. Maybe 30 seconds after I lost the Ka signal from number two, I got another alert, and danged if it wasn’t behind me again. Once again, I eased up and steered right. This time a slicktop CHP cruiser came by, periodically tagging cars with instant-on. Holy crap, a three-car trap!
I think right about then is when I remembered why I had V1. Without it, I would have dismissed the second Ka alert, and the third, thinking they were troopers I already knew about. A fraction of a second later, I decided that any thought I had of exchanging V1 for some shiny new alternative was gone. I’ll trade off GPS any day to get the arrows.
Ben Corby
El Cajon, CA