It’s the Arrows, Stupid

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