Can you Jam ? New Tool to Ticket People Who Are Not Speeding

**StlouisX50** · 09-11-2006, 08:51 AM

New Tool to Ticket People Who Are Not Speeding
The most popular, and controversial, laser speeding ticket gun has added a tailgating ticket feature.

LTI gunTraffic police have a new tool to add to their speed trap arsenal allowing them to ticket even people who are not speeding. For an extra $700, Laser Technology Inc. (LTI) will add a tailgate ticket feature to its popular 20-20 Ultralyte lidar gun ordinarily used to issue speeding tickets. The Colorado-based company convinced the Colorado State Patrol to embrace the technology, which it now uses to issue $41 tickets that come with 4 license demerit points to raise insurance rates.

Lidar guns are primarily distance measurement tools and only estimate speed based on multiple distance measurements taken in rapid succession. This makes the tailgating feature a simple addition to the device. An officer aims the laser gun at the front bumper of the lead vehicle and the distance is measured and the speed estimated. Next, he points the gun at the front bumper of the tailgating vehicle. The gun then performs a calculation to estimate the distance between the two vehicles based upon these measurements.

The LTI 20-20 Ultralyte speed measurement gun has caused controversy overseas as wildly inaccurate speed measurements have been documented by major British newspapers and the BBC. Nonetheless, many US police agencies have expanded their use of the gun to include the tailgating feature. In Oregon, police in Portland, Gresham, Clackamas, Salem, Grants Pass and Lane County use the device. Departments in Arizona, New Mexico and Tennessee have also begun tests.

Source: Oregon launches tool to crack down on tailgating (Associated Press, 9/11/2006)

**StlouisX50** · 09-11-2006, 08:52 AM

The #1 Question is Can this new device be jammed?
#2 In the picture is the device the object he is holding to his face? Or is it the object that looks like a gun?

**StlouisX50** · 09-11-2006, 08:58 AM

Additional Story

Oregon launches tool to crack down on tailgating

State is first in U.S. to use system

By SARAH SKIDMORE
Associated Press writer

PORTLAND — Drivers who follow too close are more than annoying, they are unsafe.

The Oregon Department of Transportation said tailgating has become the leading factor in crashes in the state. But now Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Tennessee are trying a new tool to curb the problem.

Using an upgraded laser, typically used to measure speed, police can now pinpoint the distance between cars. The technology has been used for years in Hong Kong, Australia and parts of Europe but wasn’t available until recently in the United States.

“We know it happens a lot more (than is ticketed),’’ said Steve Vitolo, program manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Safety Division. “Police have a reluctance to cite and judges to commit, because (the measurement) is very subjective.’’

Police target the first car’s bumper and then the second car’s — measuring the traveling speed and distance between the cars. The upgrade costs $600 and $700 per laser, according to the company that creates them.

Oregon was the first to use the tool, starting its trial last year. A Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office sergeant heard about it being used overseas and approached the company about trialing it in the United States.

It is now being used in Portland, Gresham, Clackamas, Salem, Grants Pass and Lane County, Vitolo said. Oregon has roughly 4,000 convictions a year of drivers who follow too closely. The general rule for drivers in Oregon is to allow two seconds of travel time between each car.

No information was available on how many had been made with the new laser.

“I don’t think I was hesitant (before) when there was a violation,’’ said Dept. Adam Phillips with the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. “But I feel like I am more likely to succeed in a court setting if there is a violation.’’

Arizona, New Mexico and Tennessee followed Oregon’s lead, launching trials in their states within the past year.

The laser is made by Colorado-based Laser Technology Inc., which said it is rolling the product out slowly to allow for proper training and introduction to the courts.

Because the technology is so new, the company said any area that wants to use it must agree to allow them to present the technology to the judges and prosecutors there first, as an introduction. The results from the laser have been challenged in court only once, in Arizona, and the company said the technology was upheld.

If the courts continue to accept its results, the company said it may roll it out more aggressively in the future.

Police groups have embraced the concept.

“Technology is how we are going to solve these problems,’’ said Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association. “We’ve seen that with speed cameras, red light cameras and other technology.’’

Adkins said new technology always comes at a cost, so don’t expect to see it nationwide immediately.[/b]

**WRC** · 09-11-2006, 09:03 AM

hopefully you can pick-up the scatter and brake in time, or just use an AL

**411** · 09-11-2006, 09:39 AM

True criminals will have more time to commit real crimes.

Altough tailgating is really annoying , I doubt this would be efficient in stopping tailgating , just another gadget financed by hom e la nd secu rity ... :cry: is it money spent wisely ????