A previous post discussed the most common speeding enforcement tools - radar and pacing. There are some other weapons in the police department's arsenal as well.

Technology has touched us all, and there have been several innovations in the past few decades that have found their way to enforcing the speed limit in Mojave County.

The Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder is a device that is generally hooked into the officer's speedometer. An officer can use the computer to calculate your rate of speed over a fixed distance.

VASCAR is effectively a speed trap and may be considered illegal in California under Vehicle Code Sections 40801 and 40802; VASCAR is widely used in Pennsylvania and in other states when the speed limit is clearly marked as "VASCAR enforced."

The Light Detection And Ranging device is a more advanced type of radar gun that uses a laser beam. Instead of measuring the time between sending and receiving, LIDAR points a laser beam at a target vehicle several different times and the change in distance is used to calculate the target vehicle's speed.

The major advantage of LIDAR over radar is that LIDAR is specific to one vehicle: the officer usually targets the vehicle's license plate. Although the laser is not as effective at long distance, more and more officers in Tulare County may begin using LIDAR because it is almost as cheap as radar and almost eliminates the guesswork inherent in a radar unit.

In the near future, police may use intelligent transportation systems to aid traffic enforcement.