When we send a quick pulse of light out, it will travel from the lidar gun, to the target vehicle, and back.
Lasers use light and we know the speed of light (roughly 186,000 miles per second). Behind one lens is an infrared (not visible light) laser transmitter and behind the other lens is a laser receiver that detects the laser beam’s reflections coming back. Well if you look at the business end of a lidar gun, you’ll see two lenses. (If you’re wondering why I’m killing my jammers, something that’s very important to do, read this.)Īs you can see, laser is commonly used to target both the front and rear of vehicles (front is typically far more common) and police officers love using it in areas with higher levels of traffic How do police laser guns calculate your speed? My radar detector ( Stinger VIP) alerted me to a known speed trap where police commonly hang out and when I got shot from behind, my laser jammers ( AntiLaser Priority) went off from behind and again I immediately killed my jammers to let him get a speed reading. Here’s a quick look at how this looks from the driver’s point of view. Handheld laser gun with a camera attached to the side Another option is that there could be a camera hooked up to the lidar gun and instead of making a stop in the first place, the police department will simply send a ticket in the mail. There may be some chase cars up the road ahead and the officer will radio in to vehicles up the road and they’ll make the stop instead. Other times they’ll be set up somewhere shooting and someone else will be issuing the ticket. Usually police officers will shoot laser from a handheld laser gun like this and chase you down themselves to give you a ticket. My radar detector ( LRD950) never went off. My laser jammers ( AntiLaser Priority) went off instantly and I quickly killed my jammers to let him get a speed reading on my car. Whoops! He definitely noticed this, turned towards me, and shot me from behind to see if I was going to speed away. While driving, I accidentally missed a shift and instead of going from 2nd to 3rd gear, I went from 2nd down to 1st and inadvertently revved my engine as I passed. When he finished writing one ticket and got set up to continue clocking vehicles, I drove past him. I found an officer marked on Waze and wanted to watch him in action to see how he worked. You’ll notice that my radar detector ( Valentine 1) and laser jammer ( Blinder HP-905) never goes off, even with the LEO shooting right over my shoulder.Īnd here’s a second encounter with me getting shot with laser from behind. First up is a vehicle behind me that gets nailed for speeding. Next here’s the TSS being used to issue tickets. Here’s a quick look at one popular laser gun, the LTI TruSpeed S. Would you like to see a police laser gun in action and see what the police officer sees? Lidar stands for Light Detection And Ranging. Note: Laser and lidar are used interchangeably. Let’s take a little closer look at how these police laser guns work. Even if it does, by the time your radar detector goes off, it’s little more than a ticket notifier. Heck, it’s even possible for you to get targeted and your radar detector’s laser sensor may not see it at all. An officer could be targeting the car next to you, ahead of you, or behind you, and your radar detector’s laser detector won’t be able to pick it up. This is especially useful in heavy traffic when lots of cars are around.īecause the laser beam is so narrow and thin, radar detector users typically won’t get any advanced warning before they’re targeted. The laser beam is very narrow (typically a mere 18″ wide at 500 ft away) which makes it easy for police officers to target a specific vehicle and quickly identify which vehicle is producing the number on screen. Police laser gun pinpointing a specific vehicle How does police laser work and what do you need to know about it to avoid speeding tickets? Laser jammers are required to combat laser guns. They offer many advantages to a police officer over a radar gun and radar detectors don’t actually help against a police laser gun. Police laser guns are a common tool that police officers use to issue speeding tickets all across the United States and Canada. 13 Are some vehicles harder to clock with laser?.12 Does poor weather affect laser guns?.7 What do handheld laser guns look like?.6 What are the differences between radar and laser?.5 What areas of a vehicle do police officers target?.4 How do police laser guns calculate your speed?.