[Jeff Higgins]

Stijn, a tripod is nowhere near steady enough for the precision demanded even at 500 meters, much less 1500. Carrying my shooting analogy a bit further, a master class high power rifle shooter needs to keep his shot dispersion to two minutes of angle or less out to 600 yards to remain competitive. That is within approximately a 12" diameter circle (2 MOA at 600 yards). Not many can do that laying prone on the ground, with all manner of shooting aid (jacket, heavily padded glove on the weak hand, etc.) after years and years of steady practice. No one I know could do that shooting from a standing or sitting position, even with a tripod. Your very heartbeat makes the sights move far more than 2 moa. Now try it with a handgun, with no shooting jacket strapped down tightly to control bodily movement. The natural tremors inherent in all men simply preclude holding that steady. That on a stationary object; it's even more impossible to track the same point on a moving object that accurately at that range.

While already present at 500 meters, another factor comes even more into play at 1500 meters. Mirage. The bending of light rays at that kind of distance can be very surprising. The inaccuracies introduced at that distance are at odds with the level of precision demanded for speed enforcement. And that is only one factor, which in and of itself is enough to render laser inaccurate for precise speed measurement at that range. Add in the inability of a human to hold one, and track with it accurately enough and it simply renders laser useless for the level of precision needed to accurately measure +/- 10-15 mph on a moving vehicle at that range. The manufacturers of, and officials deploying this technology know that. Independant studies have proven that.