I was wondering if the traffic cops use laser at night. I am sure it works at night but I wonder if it is difficult to use at night with dark backrounds and light glare from the headlights of cars.

 

I have wondered that for a while. I've never seen it used at night, but don't know the answer myself.

 

That is a good question... I to have never seen it used at night..

 

I think you are right on, because the pigs have to hold still, aim at a specific car, and bounce the laser accurately off that perticular car to get a reading. speaking of this, i just got a ticket for going 51 into 35 when I was changing a cd and not paying attention on my way to work at 7:55 am by a motorcycle cop. Funny, when the V1 went off (made the booo-beeep laser sound) my speedo said 44 mph, but officer dick said that I need to get my speedometer calibrated. Hmm... $120k car recalibrated, or your $300 laser gun?

 

Those things cost a fortune. Not $120k, but I think they're tens of thousands.

 

could be, ask the insurance companies that provide them for police... how do you think they get their premiums to stay high... give cops the tools to give tickets... thanks homies.

 

Choir here... thanks Preacher.

 

A few points about police measuring speed with LASER:

1. Police laser is also known as LIDAR which stands for LIght Detection And Ranging.

2. Officers can and do use it at night. Unfortunately, I found this out first hand. At night, shot from behind, V1 laser alerted but it was too late. 58 in a 45.

3. Officers must be stationary when using. Usually they'll point the LIDAR gun out an open window so they can aim using the unit's built in scope.

4. Each LIDAR package runs a department between $3,000 - $4,000 per gun and includes chargers, cords, extra battery, case etc. In contrast, RADAR units are one third to one half this cost.

5. Stats on the popular Stalker LIDAR that many departments use (from Stalker's LIDAR Spec. Sheet).

Speed Aquisition: Less than .4 seconds
Nominal Range: 5 to 4000 feet
Speed Range: 1 to 299 mph
Speed Accuracy: +1 mph, - 2 mph

That's all I can think of.

Happy Motoring,
MNM3/4

 

Cool thanks for the info

 

in other words... I'm f--ked!

 

Is it possible he was giving you a clue how to get out of points with "equipment failure" recalibration? And as I understand it, the officer must oblige if you ask to see your speed locked onto the radar device. Did you ask him to see it? Maybe he didn't have you at the 51 he said he did. And one final note, if you "lock up" the brakes the second you get the V-1 signal, it can confuse the radar and take longer to lock on while you are slowing down. Unless you are in a radar illegal state, the cop respects you for respecting him, and he has a lower speed and might not stop you. That piece of advice comes from a cop.

 

YOu were right on your first suggestion...they do use Laser at night, but the Laser Guns have a harder time detecting speed because of all the "other" lights at night.

I think Car and Driver said that one of the better "Defenses" against getting hit by Laser is by Driving with your "Brights" on during the day. Not that many of us would do that, but it was enough of a Defense Mechanism that they mentioned it. Maybe that is why they are Shooting people from behind instead of from the front more often at night.

May be a good reason to get a Laser Diffuser License Plate Frame put on the back of your ride!!

 

I agree with James 100%, most of my buddies are cops and if u respect them they will respect you. Half the time they are just trying to slow traffic down and not give tickets

 

But for some reason i have a hard time beleiving them!!

 

That's BS about 'just slowing things down'. Any cop who says he has no quota is lying. They definitely have to get a certain amout of revenue through tickets.

You're right that you must respect them. Hell, I respect them for the job they're doing, but when it comes to tickets, there's also a revenue need. If you respect them, hopefully they'll just get the quota from those who don't respect them, but that being said...
They're out there for a reason, and it's not traffic safety, it's $$$.

When you hear there's no quota next time, ask the simple question, "How can ticket revenue be a line item in the city budget if there's no quota?"