Laser owners 'arrested on sight'

[soforene]

Lawks a Lawdy !!

I nearly cacked my pants when I read this headline.

"If you are found with a laser device, you can even be arrested for simply carrying it if the questioning officer is not satisfied with your reasons for having one."

I hope "I'm going to a LEM" will satisfy 'em.

[DZ]

Laser "torch"?

That's crazy!

[carlos3621]

Good, im tired of seeing idiots with overpowered laserpointers..

[DZ]

It doesn't necessarily say pointers, it says "laser device". Who's to say they don't go after someone with a laser projector?

[carlos3621]

"Police said anyone found with a laser torch could be arrested on sight. "
i dont know if a large projector can be carried around, i think they are looking for weasels walking around with laser torches (overpowered laserpointers)... i dunno...

[Xytrell]

Who's to say they don't go after someone with a laser projector?

How would your average cop know it's a laser projector? Bonus points for a build inside a computer.

[Lazerjock]

I'm a pilot and have never been lased, but am currious what it would look like in the aircraft at night. Maybe I'll do some experiments at night with the plane on the ground.

I agree that people should not point lasers at aircraft, but I think the results of being hit are far less than the media makes it out to be.

Lets look at the distance the average person would try to hit an aircraft with a pointer and the length of time the pointer would actually hit the windshield and the amount of light that would possibly hit the pilot in the eye. My instinct tells me that it is a very small amount of laser energy and that it is most likely within the eyesafe category. Keep in mind I haven't done any experiments.

I think it is unfair and rediculous that someone can be arrested for carrying a laser pointer (torch) just because the officer don't like your response to his interigation.

Just my 2 cents.

Lazerjock

[Laserman532]

I'm a pilot and have never been lased, but am currious what it would look like in the aircraft at night. Maybe I'll do some experiments at night with the plane on the ground.

I agree that people should not point lasers at aircraft, but I think the results of being hit are far less than the media makes it out to be.

Lets look at the distance the average person would try to hit an aircraft with a pointer and the length of time the pointer would actually hit the windshield and the amount of light that would possibly hit the pilot in the eye. My instinct tells me that it is a very small amount of laser energy and that it is most likely within the eyesafe category. Keep in mind I haven't done any experiments.

I think it is unfair and rediculous that someone can be arrested for carrying a laser pointer (torch) just because the officer don't like your response to his interigation.

Just my 2 cents.

Lazerjock

well then...lets try it with a rifle...not a big one...just a .22 cal

[LesioQ]

... I read this headline.

What's new in this headline is that it explains a different way of laser - plane interaction, more acceptable to me. They wrote, that:

[...] If the beam is shone into the cockpit it can refract on the thousands of surface scratches on the aircraft's windscreen, making the whole windscreen temporarily light up and blinding the pilot [...]

That sounds less like:
"Oh my god, I lost my sight, we're lost"
but more like:
"Dammit the windows are glowing, I can't see the runway"
apparently making the pilot's problem more ... reversible ?

Piotr.K

[MechEng3]

I fly too....no one has told me that I can't use a pointer to spot something on the ground....from the air....I can see where this would lead to a huge distraction if you were on final at night.....and then GREEN! It would piss me off enough to fax the paperwork to the FAA. It is only one page...what happened...where at...what time. It's enough to get the plane trimmed and on the glidescope with crosswinds at an unfamiliar airport at night......let alone being illuminated.........
Most of my time is day, VFR.