Laser Jammers

Do laser jammers work?

Laser guns present the biggest obstacle to speeders. Because their light beams are so narrow, radar/laser detectors can rarely detect them soon enough to give you time to slow down. If a laser-gun operator has you in his crosshairs, your radar detector will probably only be able to warn you when it's too late.

While it is illegal in every state to attempt to jam radar guns, it's still perfectly legal to jam lasers in most. Nine states had banned laser jammers as of September 2009: California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. In two more locations -- Nebraska and Washington, D.C. -- experts say the legality of laser jammers is subject to debate.

Several products on the market claim to jam police lasers. These are active jammers, which emit an infrared beam at the right frequency, so that laser guns are confused and unable to get a lock on your vehicle's speed. Laser jammers won't confuse the laser gun indefinitely, but better models should give you enough time to slow down before the laser locks on.

Laser jammers are expensive, costing anywhere between $425 and $1,600. All come with at least one transceiver unit, but the better models have two to four transceivers: two for the front of your car and one or two for the rear. The transceivers are all connected to a control box inside your car. Laser jammers require either professional installation or a very handy novice. Laser jammers don't double as radar detectors, although some can be integrated with a separately purchased radar detector. Laser jammers are also fairly discreet; their components remain mostly hidden to traffic enforcement as well as to thieves.

GuysOfLidar.com and Speed Measurement Laboratories both tested laser jammers in 2008. By far, the most effective jamming system in the GuysOfLidar.com test was the Laser Interceptor (*Est. $700 to $2,450), which comes with two transceivers. The same model with four transceivers costs $1,225, and a high-power version with two laser diodes per transceiver costs $2,450. The Croatian company sells its products to the U.S. on its website, Laser-InterceptorUSA.com. However, in August 2009, Blinder International (a Denmark laser-jammer company) filed a federal lawsuit against Laser Interceptor USA and its distributor Clifford M. Crane, accusing them of patent infringement.

"Unfortunately, other laser counter measures have apparently copied Blinder's patented, successful product design without permission with the attitude of 'prosecute me behind my border and good luck,'" notes Speed Measurement Laboratories. It tests the latest Blinder M47 (*Est. $750) against nine laser guns -- and the Blinder jams them all, every time, in 162 runs. "We are still scratching our heads on how Blinder did it," the testers write. The M47, with four transponders, is designed to cover the larger surface of pickups and SUVs; the two-transponder M27 (*Est. $480) will suffice for a car.

Another interesting countermeasure is a product called Laser Veil (*Est. $100). Laser Veil is a paint-on coating you apply to your license plate and headlights that makes them less reflective. While earlier attempts at some kind of laser-deflecting paint have been ill received, a GuysOfLidar.com test found that this one really works. Testers found that when they painted their Chevy Impala's headlights with Laser Veil, it improved the performance of the Escort Shifter ZR-4 (*Est. $450) laser jammer they were testing. The Laser Veil allowed the ZR-4 to jam the gun in some cases where it hadn't been able to before. In other cases, the laser gun was able to lock onto the test car, but it took longer after the Laser Veil was added. Laser Veil needs to be reapplied every six months.