Valentine One Radar Detector Moment of the Month
February 2006: A Rear Arrow and a Pair of Headlights

During a midnight sojourn from Maryland up to New York, I got an alert from the rear, fairly weak. Since we were running through an industrial area as we entered a construction zone, my initial reaction might have been to write it off as a false, what with the factory security systems and ubiquitous radar drones on construction signs these days.

However, the arrow pointing to the rear had me wary. Surely, if it was a stationary false, I would have had to approach it first, thus generating an initial frontal alert. Armed with directional knowledge of the still weak alert, I scoured my mirrors; a pair of headlights were working their way up through traffic.

Despite the fact that I was already traveling at "traffic speed," I decided to slow further, to the construction zone's limit. At this point V1’s alert level started to rise, and the car passed me. It was a state trooper. Almost immediately he pulled over a car several hundred feet ahead.

Without the rear arrow, even if I would have detected the signal, I would have assumed that it was a weak false alert coming from down the road and ignored it.

The V1 proved itself yet again.

David Lazarus
Monsey, NY