Got my first laser hit today, v940

[actionplant]

Generally cops in my area use ka, I say generally because about a week ago I did drive by one county sheriff in an SUV and picked up k-band, but every other police vehicle that registers something gives me ka.

So it came as a shock today when I got my first laser alert. I had crested and was starting down the last hill into town when it sounded. The airport was too far away and off to the wrong side, there were no street lights or signs, I take this hill all the time and have NEVER picked it up there before, and the sun was in the wrong part of the sky (I was driving up into it coming up the backside of the hill, but at this point it was above and to the side).

I mount my RD up high, just below the ceramic dots at the top of my windshield, but I drive a low car and being I was coming down a hill any laser would have to have been shot up at me.

Surprised me though, I didn't think we had laser in the area. I turned around and came back through trying to find it but it's an industrial area and they could easily have hidden anywhere (or unmarked) and I never would have found them.

Anyway, I was doing a bit over (having just crested a hill) but stomped on the brakes right away and didn't get pulled over, so I got lucky this time I guess.

Our area just got a new batch of police vehicles, I guess they're outfitting them. I've seen HP in the area using laser from an offramp but didn't think the city cops had it yet. I'll have to really stay on my toes now.

[djrams80]

If you couldn't find the LEO, there is a good chance it was a false alert. Lots of luxury cars(Lexus, BMW and Infiniti) use laser guided cruise controls that are constantly on, whether the cruise control is engaged or not. Laser guns are mostly handheld and are not outfitted to police vehicles.

[dpatel01]

Laser guns are mostly handheld and are not outfitted to police vehicles.

+1.

If it's a laser being operated from within a police vehicle, they'll most likely be parked perpendicular to the road, window down, looking thru and aiming laser gun.

[hockey005]

if a leo is lasering you...you will most likely see him aiming at u

[Doc What, son?]

I'm gonna agree with the others. Leo really needs to be right in front of you to get the bounce back off your headlight. They can't shoot through glass, so need to be out of their car, or shooting through their open window.

So they can't be quite as crafty with Laser, it seems to me, as they can with other types of guns. On the other hand, they get pinpoint accuracy in the trade off.

I must say, however, cudos to you on good situational awareness of where you are, and what's going on around you.

You might check out this new Laser Veil, version G4. That might give you some piece of mind for future laser encounters. It's a pretty sickening feeling to hear the tell tale sound of a laser zapping you, if you don't have any kind of protection.

Good luck and welcome

[djrams80]

They can't shoot through glass, so need to be out of their car, or shooting through their open window.

Not true. There are lots of reports of LEOs shooting through windows, windshields and even off their mirrors at drivers approaching from the rear. I have not seen any of this myself, but I did see a LEO shooting a laser gun through his windshield on the TV show, "Speeders".

[Doc What, son?]

Oh, man, thanks for that correction.

Through their mirrors? Darn tricky. I'd hate to make a costly mistake based on faulty information/assumptions.

I owe you one!

[djrams80]

Oh, man, thanks for that correction.

Through their mirrors? Darn tricky. I'd hate to make a costly mistake based on faulty information/assumptions.

I owe you one!

No sweat. The most likely scenario is just like you said, a LEO sitting in what I call, "laser position", perpindicular to the road, driver's side window down. I have never seen laser in my city, but I did see a LEO sitting in this exact position just last week, but it was on the other side of the street, so I didn't get a good enough look to see a laser gun, if there was one. I've definitely had my eyes peeled since then, but no laser hits so far. I'm hoping it was just a coincidence. I'd just assume be on the lookout for only radar.

All of my laser hits have been on the freeway from CHP. I try to avoid the cities that I know run laser when I can.

[actionplant]

If I couldn't find him then you're probably right, must have been a false, caught me by surprise though as I was used to getting a k-band false in almost exactly the same spot from a nearby Walmart, so hearing that laser alert shriek at me made me jump a little.

Like I mentioned though I have seen HP using laser on the interstate, I came across a three car trap at the top of a hill, there was a car in the median, the patrolman was standing outside the car with a tripod and was pointing down the hill, and then there were two more cars, one pointed either direction. I heard they were pulling over a lot of people that day. Unless someone else knows what they might have been doing there with that tripod....

[elusive]

If you couldn't find the LEO, there is a good chance it was a false alert. Lots of luxury cars(Lexus, BMW and Infiniti) use laser guided cruise controls that are constantly on, whether the cruise control is engaged or not.

-1

I disagree with this. The OP mentioned s/he mounted their detector high, and in their area a new batch of cruisers were ordered. Having tested the laser-cruise theory against an FX45 with tech package, the detector was too high and the aim of the laser beam too low (don't forget the laser is mounted behind the lower front bumper, making the upward and very low scatter of the laser beam next to impossible since the bumper is shielding it, unless hit at the vertex of a hill).

Laser has a very far range, and an officer usually lasers a vehicle once or twice from a significantly far distance from within their cruiser, with shaky hands so to trigger the detector, then once again when within 175' or so, usually positioned perpendicular to the road. There is a good chance a newer cruiser of a non-familiar brand vehicle was used, or an unmarked / stealth cruiser deployed, which wasn't noticed.

If in fact it was the beam from a cruise control system, the OP's STi would continuously go off as if hit more than once, since the cop triggers once, but the automated cruise system is sending several bursts of trigger repeatedly.