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Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation (LASER) speed detection devices work by emitting a focused beam of light and receiving the light reflected by the targeted object. The light travels from the laser gun at about 3x108 meters/second. After the light hits the target, it is reflected back towards the source. The laser measures the amount of time in nanoseconds and determines the distance by the following formula:
x = ((3x108 meters/second)*(Dt))/2
The formula is divided by two because the gun measures the time for the light to travel from the laser gun to the target and back to the gun.
The gun continues to emit an infrared light while this calculation is being made. It then repeats the above calculation. Finally, it determines your speed by the following formula:
s=(Dx)/(Dt)
A laser speed gun can determine your speed very quickly, so quickly that it can make a speed determination about 1,000 times per second!
The advantages of Laser speed detection over radar speed detection are that it is undetectable and that a target can be picked out independent of surrounding vehicles or other obstacles.
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