Saw a possible speed trap Saturday evening

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Skip

My understanding is that they are primarlily using a handheld LIDAR unit, not the typical Ka band radar SP and many locals use, although NHSP is quickly equipping many Troopers with handheld LIDAR units as well.

LIDAR would be preferable on the water because it's really good at resolving specific targets, but one would need a pretty steady hand to get a reading. Tied to a dock would be ideal. I can't imagine they'll have too many LIDAR traps out in the choppy broads...

Since LIDAR computes the target speed based on how far the target has traveled relative to the LIDAR unit (in a given time), it suffers the same problem as speed radar in that it's only accurate when the the target is going directly toward or directly away from the LIDAR. Any deviation from a direct tragectory will yield a lower speed reading. That said, It's a function of the cosine of the angle, so even if the target is 20 degrees off a direct path, LIDAR will read only 6% low.