Monday, Mar. 13, 1989
Darth Radar
First there was the radar gun, and heavy-footed drivers were briefly slowed. Then came the radar detector -- a.k.a. Fuzzbuster -- and the battle of highway technology heated up. Police introduced K-band radar, which used higher- frequency signals to fool the Fuzzbusters, and "pulse" radar, which fired bursts too brief to be detected. But each new measure brought new countermeasures, including ever more sensitive detectors and systems that let speeders slow down without flashing telltale brake lights.
Now the combatants are turning to even more exotic technologies. A small Denver company called Innovisions Research has introduced a line of Stealth attachments, which fasten to the front of an automobile and use microwave- absorbing materials like those in the Stealth bomber to reduce the car's visibility to police radar. The company claims that a speeding vehicle that would normally be detected from 4,000 ft. away may not show up in Smokey's gun until 2,000 ft.
Not to be deterred, police in Colorado this month will begin testing a new Star Wars-type speed trap that uses laser light to spot perpetrators. International Measurement & Control, the firm that developed the new device, claims its laser beams are not only invisible to radar detectors but unaffected by stealthy shields as well. Given the speedy pace of change, can antilaser systems be far behind?