View Full Version : Can laser be used at night?
a529612
10-12-2007, 04:09 AM
Is it common for LEO to use laser at night when the visibility is poor on a pitch dark street?
repeter
10-12-2007, 04:27 AM
Yes.. Headlights are hard to miss at night.. :wink:
ELVATO
10-12-2007, 05:10 AM
I would think visibility would be even better, since you can see those headlights pretty far.
Also, you would think it would be better for the laser gun because it can see it's return beam even better :)
Also, it's even harder for you to spot the LEO before he shoots you.
mikered30
10-12-2007, 06:08 AM
Is it common for LEO to use laser at night when the visibility is poor on a pitch dark street?
Just use your high beams :D
jdong
10-12-2007, 07:36 AM
Yeah, laser's much more deadly at night, as it gives your car light-up "SHOOT ME HERE" targets and also reduces your ability to visually identify the trap.
CJR238
10-12-2007, 07:53 AM
Just turn you head lights off. :twisted:
Switchback
10-12-2007, 11:35 AM
Laser is deadly at night!! Especially when you get tagged from above & behind. Like at an overpass with chase cars waiting down the road.
On I-43 Northbound by the Grafton Exit there is a staty that sits in that spot every night nailing people that blow off the reduced to 55 limit that takes place.
I got 4 different laser alerts before I ever saw the reflective decals on the side of his car with my brights and accessory lighting on.
CJR238
10-12-2007, 12:00 PM
I wonder what would happen if you were hit by laser and you stopped immediately (before getting even close)? Would they send the chase cars to the next exit, turn around than turn around again just to get you?
danny_isr
10-12-2007, 12:13 PM
haha i thought about the same thing. stop on the side way before the LEO.... then what .... i bet they will send someone, because you not suppose to stop there anyhow (it it's a highway).
proudNMAmember
10-12-2007, 04:31 PM
I have been hit by laser at night before and it is very deadly. :shock:
Stealth 795
10-12-2007, 04:38 PM
BUT ITS NOT VERY COMMON
I have been hit though at night time one time, and yes, it was deadly...
I make a trip from DFW to Houston and back every weekend and on my return trips (at night) I get hit with laser about 80-90% of the time at a certain speed trap (visually confirmed, albeit hard as heck to see). Laser at night is indeed a deathwish if you speed and don't have a jammer. Nothing scares the crap outta me more than a full volume V1 laser alert at midnight.
So, it's the PSL for me around those parts.
Dax
JUS2MCH
10-13-2007, 07:14 AM
Well everyone you have officially ruined my life! Laser at night? I've never seen such a thing, but at least now I know it's out there. I guess I really need to settle on a jammer quicker than I thought.
RW'07
10-13-2007, 07:24 AM
Well everyone you have officially ruined my life! Laser at night? I've never seen such a thing, but at least now I know it's out there. I guess I really need to settle on a jammer quicker than I thought.
Just last Saturday, on my way to Talladega, got hit twice with laser by the Ohio Troopers, 2nd hit was late evening on I71 around Cincinnati right before the tunnel to Kentucky... my STI (up by the visor) in both cases alerted me promptly :D :wink:
And btw, didn't catch any disease while very much enjoying the race and Southern hospitality :lol:
jdong
10-13-2007, 09:42 AM
Ohio loves to shoot laser at night, parked perpendicularly to the road either at the median or a rest area parking lot overlooking the traffic. They also will shoot you at ambush ranges.... You can make out some blue decals in the median, and then BOOM laser alert.
JUS2MCH
10-13-2007, 10:16 AM
Ohio loves to shoot laser at night, parked perpendicularly to the road either at the median or a rest area parking lot overlooking the traffic. They also will shoot you at ambush ranges.... You can make out some blue decals in the median, and then BOOM laser alert.
Is that ambush range/alert enought time to slow down, or are you pretty much toast at that point?
JUS2MCH
10-13-2007, 10:18 AM
Well everyone you have officially ruined my life! Laser at night? I've never seen such a thing, but at least now I know it's out there. I guess I really need to settle on a jammer quicker than I thought.
Just last Saturday, on my way to Talladega, got hit twice with laser by the Ohio Troopers, 2nd hit was late evening on I71 around Cincinnati right before the tunnel to Kentucky... my STI (up by the visor) in both cases alerted me promptly :D :wink:
And btw, didn't catch any disease while very much enjoying the race and Southern hospitality :lol:
Well that story about the STi's performance is somewhat comforting. Glad to hear you're disease free.
RW'07
10-13-2007, 10:58 AM
Well everyone you have officially ruined my life! Laser at night? I've never seen such a thing, but at least now I know it's out there. I guess I really need to settle on a jammer quicker than I thought.
Just last Saturday, on my way to Talladega, got hit twice with laser by the Ohio Troopers, 2nd hit was late evening on I71 around Cincinnati right before the tunnel to Kentucky... my STI (up by the visor) in both cases alerted me promptly :D :wink:
And btw, didn't catch any disease while very much enjoying the race and Southern hospitality :lol:
Well that story about the STi's performance is somewhat comforting. Glad to hear you're disease free.
The first laser hit of the Talladega trip was on the same I71, s/b, but during the day half way btwn Cleveland and Columbus, the smokey was positioned in the median targeting the s/b traffic, I was in the fast lane doing 20+ mph over the 65 and no rabbit in front of mine but had time to react promptly and with God's help he did not start coming after me :wink:
And no warning on the CB, lots of truckers up and down but... what did not stop me to get on the CB and send a smokey alert with the exact trap location...
Yeah, believe it or not, NASCAR cooties... :roll:
asianfire
10-13-2007, 05:37 PM
CBs are great, got many saves from them, however, they aren't fail safe, I asked if there were any cops and someone replied that they hadn't see one, so I sped up and got a ticket...lol.
RW'07
10-13-2007, 05:45 PM
CBs are great, got many saves from them, however, they aren't fail safe, I asked if there were any cops and someone replied that they hadn't see one, so I sped up and got a ticket...lol.
Like for any part of the society, we have rebel truckers and defensive/quite truckers, you will never get anything from the 2nd category... me, just a little 4-wheeler with a CB (and a good RD, the STI :wink: ) and it doesn't bother me at all to get on air with "watch out for a smokey in the median at 388 mile marker" :wink:
On my old car I had HIDs with no projector lenses which made alot of glare. I wonder if that affects laser at all.
theshadow
10-13-2007, 10:53 PM
Just turn you head lights off. :twisted:
Few things aggravate me more than people who drive at night without headlights.
vliou2173
10-14-2007, 10:48 AM
High beams when someone's behind you. I generally try to go behind them and then high beam their sorry a**, thank god for HID's =) (no, i don't have bixenons sadly)
a529612
10-18-2007, 01:17 PM
Can laser be operated from inside the cop car and behind the cop car's windows, say during bad weather?
lordhamster
10-18-2007, 03:06 PM
Ohio loves to shoot laser at night, parked perpendicularly to the road either at the median or a rest area parking lot overlooking the traffic. They also will shoot you at ambush ranges.... You can make out some blue decals in the median, and then BOOM laser alert.
I love laser at night, because it seems like my V1 picks up laser better at night. My early warnings on laser are almost all at night. During the day usually I don't get a warning till its me getting targeted.
o2bad455
10-19-2007, 10:08 PM
Can laser be operated from inside the cop car and behind the cop car's windows, say during bad weather?
No, not the last time I looked into it (which was a few years ago). They must lower the window enough to poke the laser gun through it.
I have read on here somewhere that they can operate lidar from inside the car and through the window, but, the range is greatly reduced.
christosxo
10-22-2007, 12:07 PM
At night they shoot you and they are hiding in the dark...
rockne
10-22-2007, 01:23 PM
Yep, I got nailed last night using my V1.
icantdrive55
10-22-2007, 01:57 PM
Is it common for LEO to use laser at night when the visibility is poor on a pitch dark street?
VERY good question!
Why?
Dont the officers need visual verification of SOME SORTS to give them probable cause to feel that you are speeding thus use laser (or radar, for that matter) to confirm their beliefs that you were/are speeding?
Esp. at night....a cop watching you at 1500-2000' feet ...can he or she really have probable cause to tag you with laser or radar?
I know...I know....all in a perfect world!!!
corkguykev
10-30-2007, 04:33 PM
laser works fine by night. my prolaser 2 can find the speed of targets i cant even see except for their tail lights or headlights. it cant shoot through glass though it seems but ill have to test that out more.
edit: i have recently read that the Prolaser 2 can indeed be used through a windshield but loses some range. i must test this to confirm.
a529612
10-30-2007, 05:14 PM
Yep, I got nailed last night using my V1.
What happened? Were you behind a rabbit? Didn't it go off?
MadCanadian
10-30-2007, 05:17 PM
i have experienced Michigan trooper and mostly local leo's using laser at night time...
decemb3r
11-05-2007, 11:44 AM
At night they shoot you and they are hiding in the dark...
You're so smart. Thanks for letting me know that.
Nighthawk243
11-05-2007, 05:32 PM
CBs are great, got many saves from them, however, they aren't fail safe, I asked if there were any cops and someone replied that they hadn't see one, so I sped up and got a ticket...lol.
Trick with CB is to also listen for a number. Generally, a number of truckers just say the mile marker number, and nothing else. Usually if you hear just a mile marker number, and nothing else, its probably a state cop.
The cops know the trucker slang, so a number of them stopped using terms like "Smokey" or "Fuzzy Wuzzy"
It could also be possible that you had that state boy screwing with you over a CB too.
cheaperinfiniti
12-22-2007, 01:21 AM
im going on a 300 mile trip up to north california. leaving at 9. During that time there are still many cars going both south and north. With my V1 im still safe from laser right? kinda? cuz they are shooting it from both directions and it reflects? i dont know hah.
jdong
12-22-2007, 12:39 PM
No, at night nobody's safe from laser. At night cops have little reason to target you from afar, they'll wait till you're right up to them and blast you point-blank, in which case you get nailed regardless of countermeasures and the people behind you get no useful alert.
During the day this tactic won't work as well because you see him way before he targets you, so he'll try to aim far which results in more beam expansion, scatter, and stray beam from shaky aim.
cheaperinfiniti
12-23-2007, 12:48 AM
hmm that doesnt soudn too fun cuz i do a lot of highway traveling during the night. so ur saying veil won't work at night? and do CHP prefer laser at night? not radar? radar shud be ezier for them if they are just chillin in the car. i mean whos going to laser people 1-4 am in the morning. might as well leave constant on radar.
djrams80
12-23-2007, 08:52 AM
CHP uses way more Stalker Ka radar than laser, but they do use laser. Keep in mind, that if a CHP officer uses laser, he more than likely has to sit there with the window open in the cold. I have seen them do it though. I saw a CHP sitting on the side of the freeway, shooting laser out the side window in the cold early morning.
asianfire
12-23-2007, 01:31 PM
CBs are great, got many saves from them, however, they aren't fail safe, I asked if there were any cops and someone replied that they hadn't see one, so I sped up and got a ticket...lol.
Trick with CB is to also listen for a number. Generally, a number of truckers just say the mile marker number, and nothing else. Usually if you hear just a mile marker number, and nothing else, its probably a state cop.
The cops know the trucker slang, so a number of them stopped using terms like "Smokey" or "Fuzzy Wuzzy"
It could also be possible that you had that state boy screwing with you over a CB too.
Actually, the LEO was in the center where there are trees that was blocking the opposite side of the road, so the west bound wouldn't have seen him.
jdong
12-23-2007, 01:35 PM
so ur saying veil won't work at night?
Well it won't work as well because they target at point-blank (<500ft) type ranges if they're smart. Heck at that range, even certain jammer+gun combinations would fail.
and do CHP prefer laser at night? not radar? radar shud be ezier for them if they are just chillin in the car. i mean whos going to laser people 1-4 am in the morning. might as well leave constant on radar.
I can't say anything about Ca due to lack of experience but when I drove through a 100-mile stretch of Ohio shortly after midnight I was lasered 11 times. Rather, my Whistler 1793SE picked up 11 confirmed hits -- I'm sure there were more I didn't spot. The first one was a shocker, I drove by this rest area and looked over my shoulder and saw what appeared to be Crown Vic headlights parked and wondered "Hmm wonder what a Crown Vic is doing in the truck parking side? Probably some old farts got confused" and then BOOM laser hit.
cheaperinfiniti
12-23-2007, 02:04 PM
well THATS GOOD! im going to mammoth tonight... lots of wind up to 40 mph on the highway tonight and cold temperatures down to 25F on the way down there. WOOT ! i'll be lookin out for Ka tonight. Doesnt the laser like spread out when they shoot through windows? so its much easier to detect?
jdong
12-23-2007, 02:06 PM
Doesnt the laser like spread out when they shoot through windows? so its much easier to detect?
Right, it scatters a lot the moment it hits the glass and shortens his targeting distance while giving you a better chance of detecting it.
djrams80
12-23-2007, 02:39 PM
well THATS GOOD! im going to mammoth tonight... lots of wind up to 40 mph on the highway tonight and cold temperatures down to 25F on the way down there. WOOT ! i'll be lookin out for Ka tonight. Doesnt the laser like spread out when they shoot through windows? so its much easier to detect?
Watch out for opposite direction moving radar on that 395 strip. I've been hit with that before on my way to Mammoth. Not sure what band because I didn't have a RD at the time. My only souvenir was the ticket. Can't remember if it was locals or CHP. If it is CHP, it's 34.7 Ka.
cheaperinfiniti
12-23-2007, 03:10 PM
hmmmm okay.. sounds good.
Asleeper
12-24-2007, 05:38 PM
Lidar is commonly used at night here, probably more so than during the daytime.
christosxo
12-24-2007, 05:46 PM
and hear too :x
jmorton10
12-31-2007, 05:33 AM
I didn't have time to read through 4 pages of responses, but my son got nailed by laser on the NYS Thruway last week on his way home from college for the Christmas break.......
He was going 82 mph around 10 PM with no other traffic around him..........
~John
corkguykev
12-31-2007, 07:04 AM
laser can indeed be used by night. my LPP saved me from a nasty dent :wink: 2 months ago by night :D.
just over 2 weeks after it was installed too. very handy thing that new parking sensor of mine.
Just turn you head lights off. :twisted:
Few things aggravate me more than people who drive at night without headlights.
People shooting at me is high on my list. :D
Suf Daddy
01-02-2008, 07:24 PM
This thread has over 224,000 views........
Whoa!
LIDAR can be used at night. The problem is the operator doesn't have the sight / aim reference point-a-bility when they can only see two lights and aim (where?) between them.
This opens the reading up to sweep and panning errors. Some call them influences..........
Operating at night defeats the operating instructions of pick a point and follow it until you get a reading. While some critic will say they can see and aim INTO the headlight at night, the light(s) provide enough non visible light to make the LIDAR reflection pulses hard to "read".
Headlights can and will trip the E-04, E-07 or ja-0x codes on most LIDAR guns.
(Stalker, UL and Laser Atlanta)
Without sunlight the LIDAR has less light to filter.
However at night there are more headlights on and staring at the LIDAR gun when the operator decides to use them as an aiming "aid".
-Suf Daddy
justin81
01-03-2008, 12:05 PM
I remember encountering LIDAR at night one time a few years ago. One thing that may help assuming you do not have a jammer - remove the front plate from your car (but make sure this is legal in your state because you can get a ticket in some places). On the instance I encountered night laser, I didn't have a front plate. The LEO shot me twice and my PP 8500 detected both hits. I was able to adjust my speed between the hits and I did not get stopped. Your approaching headlights are definitely easier for the LEO to spot before you see him. But, in this case, he probably couldn't tell I didn't have a front plate, so his first shot was a miss. Of course, he tipped is hand here, so I was okay.
Nighthawk243
01-17-2008, 06:03 PM
Most speed traps are the deadliest at night, the exception being VASCAR/ENRADD (Since those are unable to be used at night due to the way they're operated).
At night, it is much harder to see the 5-0 visually, so they can keep their Radar or Laser guns in standby until you are in the kill zone. Usually by the time you see the reflecton or sihouette from the patrol car, you're too close... especially on some low profile paint/decal schemes with minimal reflectiveness (PSP are awful for having plain jane cars that have only a few small pieces of reflective vinyl...)
At night, you are also a easier to spot target due to your headlamps. Cop will see you long before you see him. In addition, you're also more likely to be targed since the number of drivers in the later hours is generally much less than that of rush hour. There is safety in numbers. If you're in a large school of fish, you're less likely to be killed by the shark than if you're alone.
kuepol
01-17-2008, 07:47 PM
Just turn you head lights off. :twisted:
yes...... good Idea I must try this as I pass a cop using laser
............................................... 0 o and then I smash into the patrol car and use the excuse that CJR238 told me too turn my head lights off. :wink:
CJR238
01-17-2008, 08:05 PM
Just turn you head lights off. :twisted:
yes...... good Idea I must try this as I pass a cop using laser
............................................... 0 o and then I smash into the patrol car and use the excuse that CJR238 told me too turn my head lights off. :wink:
:lol:
I actually did this once,,,,but not on purpose, my alternator died. needles to say they pulled me over and of course i couldn't find my insurance card so my truck got impounded. :evil: