Re: Lidar defense

[Blake Sobiloff <sobiloff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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"Hoppler, Harl" wrote:
> 
> Since the best defense is frequently offense... Are there LEDs or other
> infrared
> sources available, at the proper frequency, of course, that could be mounted
> on the front of a bike? The reflected energy of the Lidar can't be great and
> perhaps
> a forward directed array of "return fire" would be enough to save a person's
> butt.

I know that some company was marketing a front license plate frame for
cars that had an IR emitter embedded along the top of the frame. I think
it was keyed off of your lidar detector so that it wasn't on all the
time. Car and Driver tested it a few years back, and IIRC they found
that it helped block the signal until you were fairly close to the gun.
(Unfortunately, I don't have that issue anymore and C&D's web site is
broken at the moment.)

However, I think the problem that C&D pointed out was that officers are
trained to go for the headlamp reflectors if the gun doesn't get a
reading off the front plate. C&D's solution was to turn on their high
beams, which were almost as effective as the license plate's IR emitter
at masking the signal. That's good news for those of us who run with our
bike's high beams on during the day.

Hmmm. I just did some searching around on deja.com and there seems to be
some decent discussion of lidar jammers in the rec.autos* newsgroups.
Here's the URL of a particularly interesting post:
<http://x26.deja.com/[ST_rn=ps]/getdoc.xp?AN=345141911&CONTEXT=934560801.1874067469&hitnum=38>

> Most of the people on this thread seem to be located in urban areas. How
> prevalent
> is Lidar in rural areas? I tend to be relatively law abiding in town,
> preferring to
> speed in the country, where the gendarmes are at least easier to see.

I've never encountered lidar outside of major metro areas. Doesn't mean
it can't happen, but it's pretty unlikely. One of the main advantages to
lidar is that an officer is more able to pick out individual vehicles on
congested roadways because of the gun's very tight beam. That's not much
of a concern in more rural areas.
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