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You're driving down the road, minding your own business, and suddenly you spot an officer parked on the side of the road pointing something at your car that looks like a radar gun. Your trusty radar detector never makes a peep, though. The first thoughts that race through your mind: Is my detector broken or did the cops get some new radar gun that my detector can't detect?

Chances are the answer to both questions is no. What happened is that you were shot with a police laser gun.

California Laser jamming Device Act

It is worth noting that police use two types of speed measuring equipment: laser speed guns (also known as police lidar) and police radars.

Jamming police radars and operating radar signal jammers are federal crimes and are banned throughout the United States. Police radars, while nearly as accurate, are mostly no longer used by law enforcement.

Laser speed guns or lidar are now more commonly used. Some states prohibit the use of laser jammer, while most of the United States does not have specific anti-laser jammer laws.

How popular are police laser guns?

Nationwide, 125,000 speeding tickets are issued every day

Police laser tickets accounted for more than 25 percent of the tickets. In Ohio, Florida and Rhode Island, however, laser tickets account for more than half of all speeding tickets. In addition to a handful of radar guns on military bases, the state of Hawaii has transitioned to lasers only. One of the reasons for the growing popularity of police laser enforcement is that car insurance companies donate laser guns to police departments. Lasers are harder to beat than radar guns, and this investment can pay back dividends to insurance companies because of increased revenue through higher premiums.

Is laser jamming legal in California?

In some states you can legally use laser jammers, but in California attempting to interfere with the operation of both laser and radar speed measuring devices is illegal.

California Vehicle Code Section 28150 (Division 12: Equipment of Vehicles, Chapter 5: Other Equipment, Article 17: Jamming Devices) states the following:

(a) No vehicle shall be equipped with any device that is designed for, or is capable of, jamming, scrambling, neutralizing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with radar, laser, or any other electronic device used by a law enforcement agency to measure the speed of moving objects.

(b) No person shall use, buy, possess, manufacture, sell, or otherwise distribute any device that is designed for jamming, scrambling, neutralizing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with radar, laser, or any other electronic device used by a law enforcement agency to measure the speed of moving objects.

(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), a violation of subdivision (a) or (b) is an infraction.

(d) When a person possesses four or more devices in violation of subdivision (b), the person is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who has a valid federal license for operating the devices described in this section may transport one or more of those devices if the license is carried in the vehicle transporting the device at all times when the device is being transported.

Where is the laser jammer installed?

Laser enforcement is usually done when you approach an officer aiming at the headlights or front panel. Therefore, the laser jammer transceiver must be installed in the grille area of the vehicle in order to function.

These transceivers are then connected to a controller mounted below the dashboard, which is then connected to an external warning LED and/or speaker. The number of transceivers required depends on the size of the vehicle. For example, a mid-size car needs two fronts, while a large SUV needs at least three.

Rear laser enforcement accounts for only 5 percent of all speeding tickets, but in some areas, such as Dallas/Fort Worth, officers have been known to target behind vehicles from overpasses and highway entrance ramps. The rear of the vehicle can also be protected, but fitting the head there can be more difficult and add to the cost.