Am I just getting older or what????

[Cletus_Vandam]

While on the drive into work this morning, I saw the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen in a longtime.

I was waiting in line at an intersection (which happens to occur in front of a high school). The line forms every morning, same time, with students in cars going to school. Nothing new here, you always see the occasional wanna-be hot rodder who thinks he’s the next John Force. But low and behold, right in front me is a Kia with four kids in it, with a radar detector mounted to the front windshield!

Here’s a pack of kids who haven’t been driving long enough to really know how a vehicle is going to handle in perfect conditions at the posted speed limit AND HE HAS A RADAR DETECTOR so he won’t get stopped and ticketed by the police!!!! Where is this kid’s parental supervision? If my daughter bought a radar detector when she had been driving for only a year a two, I’d take it off her and be selling it on ebay.

This has got to take the cake for the most irresponsible thing I’ve seen a parent allow in a long time. I really think I’d welcome a ticket and the fact that my child was being punished for driving too fast if the police wrote them a ticket…. Who knows, if it weren’t for a ticket to slow them down, the next visit from the police might be asking to ID a body….

 

[workin hard]

I was never allowed to get one
My parents said that I shouldn't need one because I shouldn't be speeding...

 

[Chasey_Lane]

You must be getting old, because quite honestly, I don't see the problem. :shrug:

Who's to say the vehicle isn't owned by the teenagers parents? Maybe the driver is 18?

 

[Ehesef]

It's a Kia. Do they really go that fast? I had always heard that they were crap-mobiles.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

It's a Kia. Do they really go that fast? I had always heard that they were crap-mobiles.

Celica's are much crappier...

 

[virgovictoria]

I was never allowed to get one
My parents said that I shouldn't need one because I shouldn't be speeding...

I wouldn't have dreamt of asking for one - but that would be what my parents would have been thinking and said, after they laughed me out of the room!...

 

[aps45819]

It's a Kia. Do they really go that fast? I had always heard that they were crap-mobiles.

I'm sure they'll do 26mph in a 25mph zone.

I agree that alowing a teenager a radar detector is somewhat irresponsible and I also think they should start off with a manual transmission.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

I agree that alowing a teenager a radar detector is somewhat irresponsible and I also think they should start off with a manual transmission.

Why is that? My first car was manual, btw.

 

[suzeQ]

Here’s a pack of kids who haven’t been driving long enough to really know how a vehicle is going to handle in perfect conditions at the posted speed limit AND HE HAS A RADAR DETECTOR so he won’t get stopped and ticketed by the police!!!! Where is this kid’s parental supervision? If my daughter bought a radar detector when she had been driving for only a year a two, I’d take it off her and be selling it on ebay.

This has got to take the cake for the most irresponsible thing I’ve seen a parent allow in a long time. I really think I’d welcome a ticket and the fact that my child was being punished for driving too fast if the police wrote them a ticket…. Who knows, if it weren’t for a ticket to slow them down, the next visit from the police might be asking to ID a body….

I hope the parents didn't purchase the radar detector. But if the student is working and making his own money, I don't have a problem with him purchasing something like that - it's better than using his money on alcohol!

I have been in vehicles with radar detectors and I find them very annoying. They sound at the least thing - usually not radar. If they keep the driver more alert to what's going on, all the better.

While I certainly don't condone speeding, I don't have a problem with teens using a radar detector. My experience is that they force the driver to be more atuned to what's going on outside of his car, which is always a good thing.

And if that's the worst thing the teenager is doing, the parent can be proud.

 

[aps45819]

Why is that? My first car was manual, btw.

Driving a manual requires you to pay more attention to what you and the car are doing. Plus, it's real hard to yack on a cell phone and shift gears.

 

[RoseRed]

A radar detector wouldn't have helped the dumbass in the silver Porche last Friday when speeding and weaving through traffic on 235.

To bad he didn't see the cop behind me when he zoomed through. The cop saw him though!

 

[Lenny]

My first car was manual, btw.

And look how cool you turned out!

 

[Hello6]

It's a Kia. Do they really go that fast? I had always heard that they were crap-mobiles.

I've only gotten a couple speeding tickets in mine. 72 in the 55. My Sorento drives like a dream.

 

[Railroad]

By coincidence, in the News and Current Events, there's a thread regarding brain maturity and accident rate among teens. I'll keep my more colorful remarks, thoughts, and ideas on this topic to myself.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

And look how cool you turned out!

Exactly!

 

[Daddy_O]

Actually, I own a kia sedona (family wagon) and sadly, it has more power than my ranger. fairly good size v-6 with not alot of weight behind it to carry.
will say that i don't see a teenager at a light eyeballing anyone else to start a race, not the coolest of cars.....

 

[kwillia]

I would not condone my teenager having a radar detector. It is a matter of ethics.

 

[Cletus_Vandam]

I guess the way I'm looking at radar detectors is two fold...

1. The parents should know about it. It is either the parent's car, or they simply should know what their kids have in their cars (especially when it’s in plain view). With this in mind, aren’t the parents excusing speeding? Who cares if the kid bought the detector or not. Isn't that part of parenting to keep your kids in line and keeping them from doing the wrong thing? It’s kind of like finding rolling papers on your kid and blowing it off thinking (or saying) he/she’s not smoking dope-cuase you didn't find that part…

2. Radar detectors serve one purpose to alert you of the presence of police who are running radar. This gives you a sense that you can travel above the speed limit w/o risk of a ticket. My guess is that with one or two years driving experience you really aren't ready for the ice or snow that we’re seeing this time of year. Especially considering it might be the first time they have ever driven in such.

My problem comes from the experience factor involving the driver. I read post after post about how Maryland law makers out there want to do something about teenage drivers who are being killed behind the wheel. I don’t drive any faster than 5 – 10 m.p.h. over the speed limit---- why?? it’s not because I don’t trust my vehicle or my driving skills (right or wrong), it’s simply because I don’t want the ticket(s) and high insurance etc, that comes with them. But I have two decades of driving experience.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against radar detectors, I just think that you need more than one or two years driving experience before your blazing up and down the roads at 10-plus over the posted speed limit.

Just my humble opinion..... I'll get off my soap box now.

 

[suzeQ]

Eventually your kids will grow up and make all of their own decisions. You have to let them start doing that while they are still at home. If my child wants to 'waste' his money on a radar detector, I'm not going to stop him. He earned the money, he can choose how to spend it, as long as his responsibilities are taken care of first. I think a radar detector on the dash board gives friends the impression that they speed, but I don't think it necessarily means they do.

What I was trying to say was that the radar detectors I'm familiar with go off not just at radar, but at many other things. The driver has to be constantly aware of what might have set off his detector. Meanwhile, they slow down to the speed limit (if they were speeding) as they check things out. They are really quite harmless.

 

[Railroad]

Eventually your kids will grow up and make all of their own decisions. You have to let them start doing that while they are still at home. If my child wants to 'waste' his money on a radar detector, I'm not going to stop him. He earned the money, he can choose how to spend it, as long as his responsibilities are taken care of first. I think a radar detector on the dash board gives friends the impression that they speed, but I don't think it necessarily means they do.

What I was trying to say was that the radar detectors I'm familiar with go off not just at radar, but at many other things. The driver has to be constantly aware of what might have set off his detector. Meanwhile, they slow down to the speed limit (if they were speeding) as they check things out. They are really quite harmless.