[s-cars] Blinder Laseerjammer.......real or junk?

[CyberPoet]

Actually, with the laser gun, there is no reason to not read from any
angle. The doppler effect is still valid as the beam phase-shifts
against an object and re-emits an IR return. Theoretically, you could
simply pop by radio shack, buy a couple dozen IR bulbs (remote control
type) and wire them around the peripheral of your car (at the grill, at
the top of the windshield, around the bottom of the skirts) in
permanent "on" status and see what happens <grins>. I doubt they would
consume much power :)

By the way, Chris, great article. There is a similar piece in a fall
issue of Bike magazine about the Gatso effect, including interviews
with various police officials involved and the lease/kick-back
arrangement for the companies using them. There was also a recent piece
in an American car magazine about how changing the interval timing for
an intersection to 5 seconds (four seconds yellow, one second red pause
in both directions before green) instead of the standard 3 seconds
eliminates above 75% of all intersection accidents at those
intersections (and is much more cost-effective than using camera's).
On a related note: in the late 80's, in Germany, my uncle had a simple
solution -- every time he got Gatso'd, he shimmy up the pole and rip
out the film (dark hearted soul he is, may he be paroled soon). It's
gotten to the point that the Europeans are now putting camera's pointed
at the Gatso cameras to catch those who tamper with them.

=-= Marc


On Friday, February 21, 2003, at 02:22 PM, James Murray (LMC) wrote:

> I was under the impression that they cannot legally use a speed
> reading from
> such extreme angles.  For example, the accuracy of radar is
> questionable at
> approx. 90 degrees from the subject's car.  I've never tried to
> question
> this in court (or roadside, doah!).  Seems like small town local cops
> are
> the worst abusers of this, parking down the alley and zapping you as
> you
> cruise by.   Most traps I've rolled through are usually from directly
> in
> front, or with the cruiser at a very slight angle to traffic.