I'm thinking of getting a "safety" parking sensor which in turn is a laser detector. Couple of questions, do these things work? Are they illegal? I've seen one on ebay and think I might get it if it's ok to use. Regards FP. Oh here's the link I found the item on. cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageNam...0
Made make/model non-specific
Edited by Pugugly on 18/01/2009 at 09:52
|
Having looked at the spec of the product on sale, I think you mean laser jammer, not detector. I've no idea if this product works, but yes, I have known laser jammers work and yes, they are illegal. See this web page (extract below). I don't know if this page can be taken as authoritative but they've been around a while.
www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk/jamlaw.htm
"There is no law as yet regarding the purchase of a Laser Jammer or the fitting of one on a motor vehicle. (as of Jan 2009) However the first arrest was made in February 2003 regarding the use of a Laser Jammer. The person was arrested for "Perverting the course of Justice" nothing really came of it in court."
|
Basically a laser detector is of no use whatsover, the laser will only be fired at a suspected speeding vehicle at the same time as the readings are taken and the picture taken (no picture needed if its Old Bill standing by the road with a hand held gun).
Remember there is no scatter from a laser unlike a radar signal so you get no early warning from stray signals bouncing off other vehicles.
The whole operation is over in a flash and you would have no time to react anyway.
|
|
|
ISTR someone in court, driver of a Range Rover, who claimed that a device had been fitted to his car for remote garage opening and that he wasn't aware of any other functions that it might have. Convicted of illegal transissions of something of the sort and got a four figure fine. I'll try and find a link
|
ISTR someone in court, driver of a Range Rover, who claimed that a device had been fitted to his car for remote garage opening and that he wasn't aware of any other functions that it might have. Convicted of illegal transissions of something of the sort and got a four figure fine. I'll try and find a link
that was because he did,nt have a garage
|
Laser detectors, as someone pointed out above, wil only alert you once you have been caught.
Laser jammers / parking devices / garage door openers, are a grey area. They work by immediatly returning a jamming signal once you have been targeted. Some models will alert you in the car that this has happened, giving you a few seconds to brake - not very safe really. The operator will then attempt to re-target your car a few seconds later. If the same thing happens again, you get logged on a database. If you have sucessfully slowed down without someone behind you rear-ending you, all is good. If you are on that database and then the same thing happens again, you can expect a dawn raid & removal of your car. If you happen to have a garage door that opens using the device, then you have some chance of fighting it, otherwise there are some really serious possible charges to face.
I used to have all sorts of gadgets like these in my car but in the end I decided to give in and just drive within the limit.
|
One local bloke got done under the 'perverting the course of justice', and had his vehicle confiscated by the state.
The argument was that he had deliberately gone out to break the law - ie speeding - and had gone equipped to do so. Not only did he have a jammer, he also had fancy plates which are virtually impossible to read at 30 yards.
They used the same catch-all as the 'going equipped for burglary' law. That and the fact that he had not slowed down at all, but had carried on driving at silly speeds past the trap.
|
|
|
|
|
_COLON_no_upscale()/cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/30d07590976de39f4f9f9b6ae02e5986/26538e2a2b1174ccef363390300a6c9b.jpg)
_COLON_no_upscale()/cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/b2f969b9bf341e7523f7ba55e182ca78/1fc3d45a4d6ebf327e4e388c698f3072.jpg)
