Radar vs Laser (LIDAR)
By their name itself, RADAR (Radio Detection And Ranging) and LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) are both used the same way with a single significant difference. Radar and LiDAR basically work the same, with Radar operating on radio waves while LiDAR works on laser or LED light.
Almost everyone is familiar with radar guns being used by law enforcement for identifying vehicles going over the speed limit. However, over the last several years, LiDAR also known as laser speed guns was introduced and rose to popularity.
Is Radar the Best Option?
Radar guns have reigned supreme for decades when it comes to speed enforcement because they were reliable, easy to use, cheap, and accurate. The only downside was they can be detected by radar detectors from far away.
Radar guns work by emitting broad beams of radar waves covering a few hundred feet or multiple cars even if it’s only pointed in one direction. These radar waves will continue to travel and bounce off objects, cars, and terrain which are what your radar detector will pick up.
More modern radar guns are able to show the speed of the fastest car, while others can track the speed of multiple targets simultaneously.
Is Laser Better than Radar?
Just like radar guns, laser guns also emit pulses of waves but instead of radar waves, they send out light waves. However, laser guns create extremely narrow and precise pulses (think of a laser pointer) unlike the radar guns which create beams. This allows law enforcement to measure the speed of specific vehicles instantly – we’re talking half-a-second fast.
Can Radar Detectors Detect Laser?
Because laser guns produce just a narrow beam, they are incredibly hard to detect using a radar detector. Even the most modern radar detectors have a hard time doing so from a distance. If it picks up the laser beams, it’s probably too late as your speed’s probably already been measured by the police.
In order to truly detect these laser beams, you’ll have to equip yourself with a laser jammer.
Using Laser Jammers
Laser jammers, also called shifters, allow you to scramble your vehicle’s speed reading in the police’s laser gun. Laser jammers usually come with several little sensors that are put in front of your vehicles to detect laser beams to detect whether law enforcement is pointing its laser gun at you. The laser jammer will then return laser pulses that will confuse the laser gun, in turn producing an inaccurate reading.
