When you’re on a journey, you may wish to set your speed and cruise to get there in sufficient time. For many though, there is nothing worse than traveling along and being pulled over by an eager law enforcement official waiting to give you that speeding ticket that has no doubt had your name on it for months. Using a radar detector, you might find that this can ease you into a routine of keeping your speed low, and avoid those waves that flash at you from many traffic lights across the country.

Many GPS devices can be effective in warning you of speed cameras. However, their main function is the navigation and mapping system, which means that the once dominated market is falling behind to models such as Cobra’s XRS 9950. This $250 device sits on the front windshield, and circles a full 360 degrees of detection when the rear window is in view, meaning that the 12 bands of scanning will clearly show you where you need to hit the breaks. It is especially useful in urban areas, as the signals are more frequent than in rural zones.

Of course, if you do have a GPS, it may be wise to either just use this for the coverage, or stick to a paper map for directions. The sound quality is excellent, but when paired with a navigation device, both machines may attempt to drown out the other with directions and signal changes. The XRS 9950 has proved rather useful to the driver in most places though, so it could be helpful if you used the small OLED screen to see the display warnings if you still use the GPS to navigate your way round. The display is clear and bright, with informative icons giving you useful information. However, with the sound also being just as clear, there isn’t much need to use it until placed in that situation.

The traffic light camera alert is another feature that requires an additional dongle. This can detect the speed traps that are often hidden in close areas, and encourage many drivers to stick to the set limits. However, there are some flaws in certain areas where the device loses the detection signal and does not pick up cameras, especially on major highways.

This in itself can prove to be a major flaw. The fact that it can pick up signals so quickly and easily may encourage some drivers to exceed the speed limits in an attempt to break the barriers before the alerts kick in. This is incredibly unsafe and dangerous, but you can be saved by the radar gun from the police force. By the time the gun is pointed at your car and detected by the XRS 9950, you have already been asked to stop for a speeding ticket. Due to this so called flaw, it can be beneficial for you to keep your speed low enough so that when the wave alert hits, you’re never traveling too fast.