Page 6 - Laser Enforcement
There is a big difference between police radar and laser enforcement!
Radar Enforcement
Over 90% of the traffic enforcement devices used by police today are radar guns. Radar guns transmit a microwave radio signal that is sent out, reflected off a moving object such as a car, and bounced back to the radar gun where the radio waves are analyzed by computer and your speed is displayed to the officer.
These radio waves can travel great distances and are very wide, making it easy for a good radar detector to pick-up stray signals, giving you plenty of advanced warning of the officer ahead.
Radar guns can also be hand held or mounted to the patrol car and can be used while the officer is stationary or moving.
Laser Enforcement
A growing trend today are police departments moving to laser (lidar) enforcement and it is estimated that there are over 50,000 police laser guns in use today in the USA.
These guns transmit a beam of infrared light at a frequency of 330 terahertz. This light beam is only 18 inches wide at 500 feet and gets smaller as you approach the officer.
This narrow light beam is aimed by the officer to a reflective area on your vehicle, such as your headlamps or front license plate. The officer can only use the laser gun while he is stationary.
Unless your radar detector is within this 18" circle, or it picks up "scatter" from the beam, your radar detector will never alert. And by chance it does, it is too late as the officer has already obtained your speed.
The use of lidar varies from state to state. As an example police in Hawaii use laser exclusively. Florida is split 50/50, with most local police departments using laser and highway patrol officers using radar. In Pennsylvania, police laser guns are not used at all.
Laser Countermeasure Devices
There are several products that are available that can protect you however against police laser.
Veil Stealth Coating
When police target your vehicle with a lidar gun, they normally target the front, and aim at either the headlights or license plate.
The Veil Stealth Coating was developed to reduce the reflectivity of police lidar, when applied to these areas.
During the 2006 Speed Measurement Laboratories Radar Detector Shoot Out, the Veil was found to reduce the range of a police laser gun as much as 70%.
If your radar detector is mounted correctly so it does activate to a laser alert, the extra time it will take for a laser gun to acquire your speed with the Veil, may save yourself from a citation.
Laser Jammers
First off there are two basic types of laser jammers, active and passive.
Passive Jammers:
Passive jammers claim that they can disrupt a police radar and/or laser signal by reflecting back to the officers gun. These passive devices do not work, and Radar Roy is so confident that they will fail in protecting you, that he is offering a $50,000.00 reward to anyone that can show him a passive jammer that does work.
Active Jammers:
On the other hand, active laser jammers are very effective in jamming police laser.
Once an active laser jammer senses the presence of a police lidar beam it activates and sends out its own light beam, overpowering the police laser gun.
Radar Roy explains the theory this way: "I shine a hundred candle power flashlight at you and you respond by shinning a million candle power flashlight at me. Your more powerful flashlight washes out mine"
All quality active laser jammers are designed to mount in the grill area of your vehicle and some, like the Escort ZR3 come with an additional laser head to mount in the rear.
As police target either the headlamps and/or front license plate you should consider models that have two or more heads that would mount between your headlamps and the license plate.
If you drive a larger vehicle such as full sized SUV, you should also consider a model that has four heads to provide the additional coverage.
There are several active laser jammers on the market today and Radar Roy recommends that you review his laser jammer testing reports so you can select the product best for you.
The Top Laser Jammer made today is the Blinder Xtreme and it was rated the #1 laser jammer at the 2005 and 2006 Radar Detector Shoot-Out in El Paso.
Laser Jammers are illegal in the states of Nebraska, Minnesota, Utah, California, Oklahoma, Virginia, Colorado, Illinois and Washington DC.
In states where laser jammers are illegal, it would be advisable to power the units down after they active and you have slowed down, to avoid suspicions from law enforcement.
Performance is king>>
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Video explains on how laser works and demonstrates the Blinder laser jammer. 
