Interesting thing on my drive to Massachusetts last week.

Along Mass Pike somewhere just past the no-zone between NY State Thruway and MA Pike sits a traffic sign that has a radar in it. These signs are great sources of false signals. I am quite far away - over 3/4 mile, and my detector sounds off. I lift pedal and scan, see the traffic sign and think "OK, another false". Then the detector gives me another warning, this time laser, I make one more look (now maybe 1/2 mile away and running about the speed limit) and there he is - sitting right behind the traffic sign - Massachusetts State Police running laser.

The point is, if I had a GPS-marking detector, I could mark the sign, shut off the false, and be driving by fat and happy (I am both) and BAM! Laser, and I am dead meat. That's the point I was trying to make. I already mark known spots with GPS and have that warning, but I never assume the false signal is really false.

Fact is, it's not that rare that the enforcement will use the traffic sign radar signal for cover - they know that people with detectors tend to ignore them - and with laser, they get that window of opportunity before the speeder comes into range, to pop them.

I drove by the stake-out on my trip, counted my blessings, and had a nice ride the rest of the way to Ludlow where I got off. I was actually laughing when the laser warning signal went off because I had already pedaled (even though I am not sure I would have gotten a ticket for the rather tame speed I was traveling). Then I soon got another advance warning outside Belchertown on the 202 past Quabbin Scenic Outlook that a local enforcement officer was coming before he came into sight.

I figure I got my money back several times on that trip for my BEL STi Driver...