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I wonder if "lasing," people's cars as they drive would cause the same types of ramifications. Seems very likely, and even more dangerous than "lasing," a pilot
by quackerhacker 13y ago
I wonder if "lasing," people's cars as they drive would cause the same types of ramifications. Seems very likely, and even more dangerous than "lasing," a pilot (a highly trained individual). I consider most drivers easily distracted and careless (myself included).
Food for thought, while lasers can focus a beam at a pilot, at air shows and in the air force, pilots usually have spotters that use a mirror and line of sight....so while I understand his sentence to be a deterrent by example, I DON'T agree with harsh sentences for non-violent crimes.
- rayiner 13y agoThis is a violent crime.
- tommu 13y agoNo it isn't. It's a distracting annoyance at best.
- yeukhon 13y agoThe impact can be catastrophic.
- ynniv 13y agoLike putting your hands over the eyes of someone driving a car.
- cm127 13y agoMore like shining your brights to oncoming traffic: people do this all the time. No one gets 14 years for that.
- ynniv 13y agoThe sentencing is IMO shameful, but shining a laser into someone's eye is not at all like shining a bright light, and temporarily blinding a driver on a well maintained, well marked road is nothing light blinding an operator of a technically sophisticated, carefully balanced machine that operates in six degrees of freedom. Bright lights cause an iris response that protects the eye and is familiar. Lasers cause temporary spot blindness and are bewildering. Helicopters are, to my knowledge, the most difficult vehicle that humans pilot. They are fundamentally unstable and operate in an environment in which seemingly benign towers are fatal and there is no means of escape. Have you heard of an ejection seat on a helicopter? How about an escape hatch? Parachute? Floatation device? Airbags? Most failures in a helicopter can be fatal, even simple mechanical ones. You basically hope that you don't hit the ground too fast.
- dingaling 13y ago> Have you heard of an ejection seat on a helicopter? Well, since you asked... http://www.zvezda-npp.ru/engl/k37.html http://www.zvezda-npp.ru/engl/k37.html "K-37 (РПС К37-800) ejection system for helicopters"
- tptacek 13y agoShining your high beams into oncoming traffic is incredibly dangerous. Don't ever do it.
- sov 13y agoIn no way is this a violent crime.
- hoka 13y agoWhat if your significant other was in a life flight helicopter, and someone lased it?
- kansface 13y agoEmitting unwanted photons is not an act of violence unless the laser is ablating.
- bequanna 13y agoThankfully, most people consider an attempt to harm other human beings as an act of violence.
- kansface 13y agoAlmost no one would use that definition. Calling someone a mean name would be an act of violence. Violence implies physical effort of some kind and not intent- ie, both storms and people can be violent.
- austinz 13y agoLasers in eyes are more than just a distraction. Certainly not a 'non-violent crime'. c.f. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Juan_de_Fuca_laser_incident http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Juan_de_Fuca_laser_in...
- Jaecen 13y agoI may be misunderstanding it, but the Clinical Assessment section of that article appears to claim that the reported injuries were not due to a laser but to other pre-existing conditions.
- patcon 13y agoAnd on a related note, I wonder if buying a pair of IR-filtering safety glasses for every pilot in America would be cheaper on the system than jailing people as criminals for over a decade... http://www.lasersafetyindustries.com/100_20_120_UV_and_IR_Laser_Safety_Glasses_p/100-20-120.htm http://www.lasersafetyindustries.com/100_20_120_UV_and_IR_La...
- bequanna 13y agoI wonder if buying bullet-proof vests for every person in American would be cheaper on the system than jailing people as criminals for over a decade.. If someone intentionally tries to cause another person harm, or in this case, crash a helicopter, I believe they need to be removed from society.
- jasomill 13y agoPilots don't get distracted by UV or IR, they get distracted by visible light. And glasses that effectively filter out visible light are detrimental to pilot safety for another (obvious) reason.
- modo_ 13y agoThe night vision system in most military helicopters nowadays have light interference filters that remove lasers. Switzerland seems to be equipping all of its first responders with laser protective eyewear as well.. http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.srf.ch%2Fnews%2Fregional%2Fbasel-baselland%2Fbasler-polizei-schuetzt-sich-gegen-laserpointer http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&pre...
- cynwoody 13y agoLasing a car driver would seem to be even more likely to cause injury, given that the amount of time between vision impairment and actually hitting something is likely to be much shorter. Airplanes have been known to fly for hours with sleeping or otherwise incapacitated pilot(s).
- Pinckney 13y agoAirplanes have been known to fly for hours with sleeping or otherwise incapacitated pilot(s). Helicopters do not fly for hours with sleeping pilots.
- ilyanep 13y ago"Lasing" an airplane is actually much worse than doing so to a car because of the way the cockpit glass is made (in addition to the diffusion from being so far away). See http://www.pangolin.com/faa/images/FAA-simulator_4-pics.gif http://www.pangolin.com/faa/images/FAA-simulator_4-pics.gif for an example of this. Basically, the laser light gets diffused throughout the cockpit.
- jetru 13y agoROFL. Build a million dollar plane. Confuse the shit out of it with a homemade laser. We need more glass research.
- product50 13y agoHe had a criminal past because of which his sentence was so harsh. His gf who is an accomplice got 5 yrs imprisonment.