We’ve all had the experience: Glanced in the rear-view mirror and realized that the car behind you is so close, all you can see is the middle of their hood and windshield. Or, worse yet, that your entire back window is filled with a Semi’s grille. Very nerve-wracking and dangerous. Fortunately, the Police and Highway Patrol have a new weapon to catch tailgaters and enforce safe following distances.
Laser Technologies, a Colorado based laser “radar” gun manufacture, has devised a way to use their laser-guns to identify tailgaters by measuring the exact distance between vehicles’ bumpers.
Many citations for tailgating get overturned in court because the observed distance between a suspected tailgater and the lead vehicle is deemed subjective. Measuring the vehicles’ speed and actual distance between bumpers can now provide real evidence for a tailgating citation.
Oregon was the first state to use this tool, beginning with a trail last year. Arizona, New Mexico, and Tennessee have also begun their trails of their own.
Thus far, results from using the laser have been contested only once, in Arizona, and the technology was upheld.
Laser Technologies says that if the courts continue to accept the results of these devices, they may roll them out more aggressively in the future.
Frankly, I hope so. Tailgating has become the #1 stress to driving anywhere.