The first law to limit vehicle speed was created in 1901 in Hartford, Connecticut. Now, both federal to local governments use speed enforcement equipment. The most effective development in enforcement occurred during the early 1950's when police traffic radar appeared. This technology was improved in the early 1970's with the introduction of moving radar. 

It's estimated that 20 million speeding tickets are issued each year and that radar is used in 13 million of these cases. Here's a scary thought... there are more than 125,000 radar guns in use in the United States and the average motorist can expect to be monitored by police radar well over 1,000 times in their lifetime.

Radar is an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging and defines an electronic instrument that utilizes electromagnetic radio waves to detect and locate moving or fixed objects. 

Police radar guns transmit a continuous signal of electromagnetic waves at a constant frequency to make precise speed measurements. When this signal (or beam) strikes a moving vehicle, the signal reflected back will be of a slightly different frequency which sensitive receivers built inside radar guns pick up and compute into miles-per-hour (MPH). 

Radar gun must be able to "see" the vehicle, so police target reflective surfaces such as license plates, headlights, light colored paint, and chrome bumpers and grills. Larger vehicles, such as 18 wheelers, vans, buses, pick-up trucks, and SUV's provide even better targets compared to small cars or motorcycles. 

Like RADAR, Laser is an acronym (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation), and the laser gun is the fastest traffic-control gun there is.

Until recently, drivers didn't stand a chance against laser guns, which shoot a very tight, invisible beam of light at 186,000 miles per second.

How the gun is used:
Police are trained to aim at the most reflective surface of a vehicle - generally the front license plate - so the emitted light beam can be bounced back for speed measurement. To work properly, guns have to be stationary, steady, and aimed nearly straight on at the front or rear of the moving target.

Laser is nearly instantaneous and can pick a single vehicle from a group of cars. That means you have no protection from surrounding vehicles. One ill-timed acceleration and you're history.

Typically, police laser is used to target vehicles at distances of less than 1,000 feet. At this range, the diameter of the laser beam is less than three feet. In contrast, a radar beam, with its wide scattering microwave signals, can be 250 feet in diameter at 1,000 feet. That's large enough to cover all lanes of traffic on a busy highway and nearly impossible to pinpoint a single vehicle!

Is laser really a threat?
Over 30,000 laser guns are in operation throughout North America and currently almost every state's law enforcement agency uses this weapon. Chances are you've been targeted without even knowing it!

Helping to grow this threat are laser gun manufacturers providing police departments with evaluation units and billing them only after enough tickets have been issued to pay for them. As a result, drivers are often surprised to encounter police laser in areas not expected to have access to this more expensive technology.