Mythbusters Recap: Beat the Radar Detector

Plywood Builder. The first myth in this was of the flying builder, where a contractor was lifted from a building because he was carrying a large piece of plywood, and while in the air, he manuevered the plywood like a glider, safely bringing himself back to a landing a couple of floors down. So Adam and Jamie build a few small-scale contraptions and test them on a mini-Buster (okay, it was an action figure). The result? It doesn't help much.

So they put them together on the real Buster, and it turns out that they didn't really help much there either. As it turns out, those times where you see someone open an umbrella to slow their descent (usually in a cartoon)? That doesn't really work either. But in this case, holding a chunk of wood above your head actually seems to speed your descent and then you get a large headache from the wood that hits you once you're lying on the ground. Busted (in more ways than one).

Can't Beat the Speed Radar. The title myth this episode involved the testing of a number of speed radar-busting myths, from dangling disco balls from the rear-view mirror, jingling key rings as you drive, reflective tape that covers the entire car, special paint jobs to absorb the radar and even plain old aluminum foil. None worked. The only thing that had any effect at all was a contraption that spun around on top of the car and was likely illegal in most states. If you want to avoid a ticket, you're better off trying to drive the speed limit than trying to make one of these things work. Busted.

Entry Tags

Related Entries

Post a comment

Sponsors