For those that don't know I work in the electronics buisness as a Control systems engineer in a large chemical factory and have recently been involved in laser measurement.

As far as we can see at work, the lasers that are used by the police are invisible so probably fall into category 3. Category three is actually harmful to humans and new legislation will prevent them being used where the laser could come in contact with humans, such as being pointed at motorists. It will probably ban the use of lasers in night clubs which are Cat 4 and have been known to start fires !

Anyway back to the point. I think if I was detected by laser I would probably be asking for the risk assesement of her majesty's cash registers department and if they couldn't produce ?? well I think you may have a case

Just something we were thinking about while travelling up the M1 where we saw at least 3 speed traps and another 4/5 traffic cars between 25 & 28 and a total of 13 policemen in the space of 1 hour ????

Incidently we travelled through a lot of built up area and saw 0 bobbies on the beat.

Just thought I'd get you lot thinking about the laser stuff.

 

I've always thought that myself (btw I'm also an electronics engineer). What if the copper was a bit off with his aim on the laser gun, if it hit you in the eye you could get blinded which could be permenant. I know the probability of a direct hit is very low as the beam is quite fine. Not sure how powerful they are but must be fairly strong in order to get a good enough signal bounced back to measure.

Banning there use in public for health and safety issues sounds like a good idea to me

 

Do you know if laser traps are used at night or in bad weather ie heavy rain ? I have never seen a laser speedtrap during either of these and wondered if we may be "safer" at night from these safety laser camera vans ?

Also I guess these safety vans are run by the council not police so would need staff willing to work out of hours ?

 

The no reason they can't be used at night. Rain however may be a problem as it can cause the laser to scatter.

 

If what you suspect is true and I wouldn't know, informing some of the newspapers known to be sceptical about the whole camera thing would be interesting. They have access to the Establishment and if they ran articles suggesting that laser guns could harm people imagine the public outcry.

 

i recently studied u use of lasers although as gas detection and yes rain snow fog etc will interfere with the signal causing the atoms in the mist rain etc to vibrate therefore lowering the frequency of the signal!
although it may be possible to set the laser at a frequency which will not be affected by the rain not sure though ?

 

Lets get back to the point of whether the laser can harm you or not. I suspect that this is something that our superb government would try to hide. They use laser over quite a distance and so its focal point must be sharp in order to get a reliable reading back which suggest to me that there must be some power involved here and in turn power within lasers = damage of sorts

Steve

 

There is also the question of whether the laser can harm the operator. IIRC I read,some years ago, that some USA police officers were suing their employers claiming that speed guns had given them cancer. Don't know what the result was.

 

Are you sure on the M1 it was for speeding.

On the A3 here recently they were doing APNR. There was one van with detection equipment (so looked like they were a speed trap). But following that (for several miles) there was 3 bikes and 2 cars.

 

when I was working for a speed camera company the MD used to point the things in his eye as a demo.

 

does he see black spots in his eye ! Thats stupid whatever the power

 

they wouldnt be scamera vans on the M1 unless there were roadworks and a speed restriction in force. $cameras also need to be well signposted

Bob

 

no but he see's red easily. He was a ****

 

Didn't say they were vans. There was a radar trap on a bridge on the south bound carriage way and a cop sitting on a slip slightly later down ready to pull out after you if you were over the limit. On the North bound there was a cop parked up with a rear facing radar on the top of hi car. There was a traffic cop writing out a ticket on the hard shoulder. I doubt they need to put signs out all over the place on the M1

Anyway talk about laser law. Thats the interesting bit. There might be a loop whole here, doubt it but you never know

 

Doubt if it was a radar trap. Little dated now. Laser Guns are most widely used

 

So.................which papers do I need to inform, and how do I go about it?


I've e-mailed tabloids before, but never even had a response

Alcazar

 

My answer "They're dangerous - should be outlawed".

Honest answer "I'm sure anything less than 10'000 hours of solid exposure would not damage your health at all".

 

IIRC aren't lasers classified by how much damage they can do and NOT by the output wavelength? I find it hard to believe that the Police Federation would allow its members to operate equipment which might harm them without kicking up a stink (see the fuss about the propellant used in CS cannisters for instance) - and remember that the officer is a lot closer than you are...


M

 

But he's aiming it AWAY from him.
If any shadow of doubt could be proven the papers would love to hear about it!!

 

the ones in the clubs i work in are not cat 4

 

What about Gatso's and the radar waves they transmit 24/7 outside peoples houses? i wonder if these are more of a health risk than people realise and we all know how untrusting people are of mobile phone masts stuck any where near their house.

 

The LTI 20/20 is a popular choice amongst highway robbers.

unfortunatly these devices are FDA class 1 the lowest (upto 0.22mw) I believe rated laser devices.

http://www.lasertech.com/UltraLyte100LRSpec.pdf

As for being used in the rain yes they will use them in light rain, but will call it a day in real down pours. The reason you do not see them at night is they are not home office approved to be used at night. Theoritcally they could be it was just missed out of the testing and approval process.

 

Maybe they aren't in the clubs you work in, but they have been known to ignite furniture when they have been on standby and just pointing at something.

This post was just a theory that I thought might be worth exploring thats all

And for the last time there were speed traps on the M1 between J25 and 28 - End of story

 

You have pm

 

Did you use any words of more than two syllables?