Hey Rick,

I thought about buying a top end laser detector, but decided in the end to pass.

Accuracy--Laser is very hard to detect. There are all kinds of sneaky tactics the cops can use when they go into "revenue generation" mode. With radar, the beam goes out over a fairly wide area which increases with the distance from the gun. The cops like to use their radar in an "instant-on" setting which is the hardest way to pick up. If you're out there by your lonesome, consider yourself nailed. If you're in traffic, you get the benefit of the beam bouncing around and can get that couple of seconds early warning and evade a ticket. Laser can target a specific vehicle and can get a reading at a great distance even if there's lots of cars on the road with you. If the cop is aiming at the guy beside you, you may not pick it up that the laser is in use. If you're the target, you've generally been bagged quicker than it'll take you to get cuffed and stuffed. Seriously though, your speed will have been determined before you have time to register that your detector is going off and react to it. The guns are that fast. I know from personal experience. I didn't get stopped because at the time I was behaving myself, but there was no warning when my radar detector, with laser detector went off.

Restricted areas of use--The laser guns are very expensive and most counties and municipalities don't want to spend the money for the equipement and officer training. It's cheaper and easier to rely on conventional radar. The state of NH for example has a few laser guns used by the staties on major interstates. They are not generally used on the backroads as they are mostly patrolled by local yokels with radar. Also, the lasers that I've seen used require the officer to be out of the car and aiming the unit. To my knowledge, they don't just drive around with them on like the cruisers with radar do.

For evading the "revenue generators", I rely on my radar detector and my powers of observation. I keep my eyes on where I'm going obviously, but I also scrutinize bridge abutments, patches of shrubbery, on-ramps, and of course, my mirrors as the Massachusetts staties love to sneak up from behind. I am particularly watchful of on-ramps as I drive by. Connecticut staties driving Mustangs will sometimes try to entice you to race before they pull you over. Once again, this is from personal experience. They all have their tactics. I've been lucky enough sometimes to spot 'em even before my detector goes off because I caught a reflection of sunlight off to the side. I'd slow down and sure enough, there he was tucked up nice and neat in the bushes. Those are the ones to watch out for. The ones that park in the median and leave their radar on are there to enforce and be a presence. Basically, I just try to stay observant.

Didn't mean to make this long, but for me, it didn't seem to be a worthwhile investment once I stopped to think about it. Also, I must confess that my knowledge of the police use of laser radar is a few years old and there may have been some "improvements" since then. That being said, if I've made an incorrect statement, I submit to being straightened out.

Good luck.