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Laser-Equipped Detectors Zero In On Speeders

New Detectors Work Better Than Radar

POSTED: 6:13 pm EST February 23, 2005
UPDATED: 6:52 pm EST February 23, 2005

State police in Massachusetts and New Hampshire are using laser-equipped detectors to zero in on speeders.

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NewsCenter 5's Pam Cross reported that the detectors can pinpoint one speeding vehicle in a bunch of cars and it can find speeders farther away than radar ever could.

Yanking cars out of high-speed traffic is all in a day's work. New Hampshire State Police Trooper Sue Harbour said that she writes 100 speeding tickets a week for people going 80 mph and faster.

The laser speed guns are now in widespread use. It's taken a while because each New Hampshire detector costs about $5,000. They pinpoint a vehicle's exact distance and speed.

"We stop the vehicle as it comes to us and we don't have to move, whereas with a conventional radar, you have to get up and go and track that vehicle down," New Hampshire State Police Trooper Chris Wagner said.

Don't think about speeding up when you cross the border -- the same technology by a different company is used in Massachusetts. About 120 of the laser guns are in use. They can see long range.

"It's call sight distance. If I can see that vehicle, I can target that vehicle and get its speed. Sometimes, they don't know we are in the area," Massachusetts State Police Trooper Mike Provost said.

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