I remember some time ago there was a thread or two here about people fitting laser garage door openers to their cars. Well be warned - you need to make sure you fit the other part too:

Laser jamming devices

Pretty stupid if you ask me.

Fancy denying having it fitted and not hvaing the other end - That's why he got done.

If you have a legitimate device connected to it then it's not a problem.

Assuming I were to know a friend who had one of these devices he would have his wired up to actuate his outside light when he arrived home as a security measure.

Pretty stupid if you ask me.

Quite right. He was almost a professional speed limit breaker and thought he could buy his way past the law with the laser device.

It's good to know that some juries still have common sense, and I hope they would have convicted him even if he did have the garage door opener.

And before anyone says "why weren't the police catching muggers instead", if this guy is allowed to speed everywhere in his 4x4 he will sooner or later kill someone as surely as if he is waving a knife or gun. We are all safer while he is off the road.

Ha ha ha ha , what a plonker

I also have such a device, which is connected

Whoops! Article says he 'drove some 140,000 miles a year' ?!? :eek:

Surely a typo? That's like 500-odd miles every single day, 5 days a week, for 52 weeks?? :confused:

Steve

South Yorkshire chief constable, Meredydd Hughes, believed Eady was the first person to be convicted for using such a device. "The judge has sent a clear signal that these devices are wholly unlawful; their use will be regarded as a serious matter," he said. "Roads policing officers throughout the country have been briefed on how to detect the devices in action and the appropriate steps to be taken to ensure the successful prosecution of the dangerous law-breakers who use them."

As usual the police taking a different line to what the judge said. Wonder why respect is at an all time low.

Thankfully the devices aren't even in the slightest bit unlawful. The offence is to interfere with a police radio transmission.

Thankfully the devices aren't even in the slightest bit unlawful. The offence is to interfere with a police radio transmission.

I notice that in the Notes to the Road Safety Act 2006 it talks about prohibition of "speed assessment equipment detection devices", which are:

a device the purpose, or one of the purposes, of which is to detect, or interfere with the operation of, equipment used to assess the speed of motor vehicles.

(my bold).

I'm not a lawyer or legally trained though - but I assumed it meant that such things were unlawful?

I maybe presuming here, but I feel, with the quote above talking of interference, that it would be a case of proving that the device fitted had intentionally interfered with the operation of that equipment [laser gun].

Therefore the fact it was merely installed doesn't make it unlawful.

Steve

Exactly Steve, and in fact the garage door openers are designed specifically not to cause undue interferance in so much as if another laser is detected it will send a return pulse and then switch off.

Also isn't that act you refer to the one that didn't make it into existance. I seem to remember talk of banning laser detectors such as the Road Angel and some Snoopers but it all fell through for the time being.

I don't have any actual knowledge - I've just been typing words into search engines to see what comes back.

I maybe presuming here, but I feel, with the quote above talking of interference, that it would be a case of proving that the device fitted had intentionally interfered with the operation of that equipment [laser gun].

Therefore the fact it was merely installed doesn't make it unlawful.

Steve

I dunno, to be honest, although the Explanatory notes to the Act talk about it being prohibited to have a vehicle fitted with such things - depends how you read "the purpose of which", I guess.

Exactly Steve, and in fact the garage door openers are designed specifically not to cause undue interferance in so much as if another laser is detected it will send a return pulse and then switch off.

Although that would mean it's capable of detecting a laser speed trap which seems to be as illegal as interfering with one...

Also isn't that act you refer to the one that didn't make it into existance. I seem to remember talk of banning laser detectors such as the Road Angel and some Snoopers but it all fell through for the time being.

I found a link here which suggests that it missed the pariliamentary boat back in 2005. But it looks like they reintroduced it and it got through second time around - it says on the DfT site that it received Royal Assent last November. So as far as I can tell it does exist on the Statue Book.

But the notes to the Act do say:

The precise subset of the devices which will be prohibited will be identified in the regulations made under section 41 of the RTA but it is not intended to include in the prohibition those devices that only contain information about published camera site locations

Note the "will be" identified in regulations which suggests they weren't published back in November 2006. I'd guess that part of the Act needs those regulations to be written for it to have any force in Law.

But I don't know where such regulations are published or even if they exist yet- I failed to find them I'm afraid.