Quote:
|
Originally Posted by SebringBill
Laser is hard to beat but it also only works during clear days; no nights, fog, smoke or rain.
|
The laser is diminshed slightly by fog/rain/smoke, but only if it gets thick enough to prevent the laser beam from bouncing off the target and returning to the measuring device. Rain is the best inhibitor since the water bends light.
They work
great at night. If anything, the night allows the laser to be seen even easier by the device measuring the beam (over an abundance of light in the daylight sun which is still no big problem).
The laser is a "point and shoot" method of operation. It's very similiar to a scope on a rifle. The red dot is put on a car and the trigger is pulled, the machine measures the time out vs. the time back and bingo, theres the speed. It's vehicle specific since the sight picture lets the user aim at one car. There is no defense in court that they mustve clocked someone else. I think I've heard that at 1,000 ft away the laser beam is only 2ft across, where as the radar "cone" could be hundreds of feet across allowing another car to be clocked. If the officer can see you, then he can clock you. Even when your emerging from behind another car and are not in 100% view of the officer. They just need to put the dot on your car. Laser's pretty nasty stuff,,,
The advantage that the motorists have is that laser is not passive, so the officer has to choose to sit still and use it. They have to aim and try over and over, so it can get old for them to sit still and keep trying.
Radar allows them to be a slight bit "lazier" and just turn it on and off without the constant effort to point and aim over and over. Plus radar can have moving mode where an officer is going the opposite direction and clock you. Some newer systems can clock you in the same direction as well. They can catch you speeding up behind them before you see them ahead and apply the brakes. Then they just slow down and let you go by to stop you. This uses the radar beam telling the device the difference in speed between the police car and the speeding car to tell the officer your speed (no math involved for the officer
).
Just be careful out there guys, and let the little rice burners and cafe racer motorcycles get the police attention while we just cruise on by.
