back to article Forget aircraft – now cretins are laser-blinding ferry boat crewmen

The Washington State Ferry service, on the US west coast, appears to have some high-tech enemies: a series of laser attacks have been fired at pilots on the craft that serve Seattle's Elliott Bay and the surrounding locales. On New Year's Eve the captain and the first mate of the ferry Tacoma were temporarily unsighted when …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    15 days jail time ?

    So partially blinding and permanently injuring two people which would be grevious bodily harm in the UK

    the captain of a ferry and his first mate suffered permanent retinal burns after local resident Mark Raden thought it would be a hoot to laser them

    With priors

    Raden, who the local Coast Guard said has a history of lasering incidents

    I cannot find the words to express my absolute contempt, for the pitiful compensation to the injured, the charge of reckless endangerment instead of assault and the jail term.

    1. a_yank_lurker

      Re: 15 days jail time ?

      Sooner or later one of these laserings will lead to a fatal accident. I doubt most of these imbeciles have enough assets to be worth suing. It seems the penalty currently is too light given the horrible risk of fatalities.

      1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

        Re: 15 days jail time ?

        It seems the penalty currently is too light given the horrible risk of fatalities.

        It clearly isn't a deterrent. Why not treat this in the same way that they would treat someone who fired a gun at the ferry captain?

    2. Mark 85

      Re: 15 days jail time ?

      I'll bet his lawyer plea-bargained the hell out of this... or.. he gave the LEA some info on something else someone did. Just seems too light a sentence when you consider if he flashed an aircraft.

    3. TonyJ

      Re: 15 days jail time ?

      Assault? Attempted murder, surely? What if he'd caused it to hit another vessel or object and it'd sunk with lives lost?

      What the fuck is wrong with these bottom-feeding, scum-sucking, algae-eaters that they feel the need to do this??

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 15 days jail time ?

        "What the fuck is wrong with these bottom-feeding, scum-sucking, algae-eaters that they feel the need to do this??"

        God knows. Mentally deficient in some way presumably. Perhaps ask whichever single moron it was that modded down the OP - he's probably one of them.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 15 days jail time ?

        Heavy metal poisoning. I'm not joking they have found in the US prison system most criminal have some sort of heavy metal poisoning. Which leads to poor decision making and violence The water system in the US is fucked. Think flint but worse. You have cities in the US that has had its drinking water contaminated for over a decade

        1. HieronymusBloggs

          Re: 15 days jail time ?

          "most criminal have some sort of heavy metal poisoning"

          The Romans did pretty well despite drinking water from lead pipes and containers. I suspect there are still houses in the UK with lead water pipes, which were common until fairly recently, yet relatively few people indulge in this moronic activity. (Note that I'm not playing down the seriousness of contaminated water supplies; I'm just sceptical about it being a significant factor here).

          1. Richard Simpson

            Re: 15 days jail time ?

            Well, firstly, what percentage of Romans were drinking from lead containers? I am guessing a relatively small percentage of wealthier people with the rest getting their water from well/stream/puddle with wooden containers (which will of course be much less well represented in museum collections as they will have rotted away).

            Secondly, being a bit of a psycho may have been an advantage in Roman society which was generally much more violent than ours.

            Most lead piping was removed from UK homes decades ago and no new houses have been constructed with lead piping since perhaps the 1960s. I am in my 50s and I have never lived in a property with lead pipes. Most laser wielding loons are in their 20s and therefore are even less likely to have done so.

            Of course some people claim (with some justification) that leaded petrol causes violence enhancing brain changes, but most 20 year olds were born after it was phased out.

            1. This post has been deleted by its author

            2. Queasy Rider

              Re: effect of lead

              A few points to note: It was the crazy Roman leaders that were most DIRECTLY exposed to pure lead, not just their drinking cups, but their dishes, pots and pans, and eating utensils. Thus, not just a higher exposure, but an exponentially higher exposure. You point out that only a relatively few rich were most affected, but since Rome was basically ruled by about a hundred families, that meant every last one of their leaders were potentially bat shit crazy or mentally deficient.

              And I'm surprised nobody here noted the existence of lead in modern business practices. Activist scientists were rather distressed not just by leaded gasoline, but by industry's use of anti-fouling paints, solder, leaded paint in the toy manufacturing business, crib makers, playpen makers etc. Everybody knows that there is nothing babies won't put in their yaps and chew on, especially when they are teething, gnawing like rodents. Just glance at the rails of their cribs if you need proof. Sure the use of lead in paints has been restricted and banned, but the damage has been done and it will take scores of years to flush those victims entirely out of the population and the lead out of the environment, like asbestos. And these people are from every economic class. Maybe this explains the tech industry leaders' anti-social bent, too much time spent as youths with soldering irons.

            3. kain preacher

              Re: 15 days jail time ?

              The US still has lead based water pipes. Lots of them. Will still have houses with lead paint.

          2. Vic

            Re: 15 days jail time ?

            The Romans did pretty well despite drinking water from lead pipes and containers. I suspect there are still houses in the UK with lead water pipes, which were common until fairly recently, yet relatively few people indulge in this moronic activity.

            There was a tale doing the rounds that much inner-city moronic behaviour was down to airborne lead from car exhausts. The switch to unleaded fuel has, apparently, made things better - but many people were exposed for many years, so there is a long tail of affected people.

            I've no idea whether or not his might be true.

            Vic.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              It isn't just a tale

              It is about as close to proven as sociology can get:

              http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/lead-exposure-gasoline-crime-increase-children-health

              It has been studied heavily in the US looking at the declines in the use of leaded gasoline in various states and even in the city level in some states, as well as internationally in many countries all over the world. Even at a neighborhood level in New Orleans. The decline in violent crime matches the decline in lead exposure every single time, every single place, no matter where they look.

              There are links in that article to some of the academic papers.

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: 15 days jail time ?

            "most criminal have some sort of heavy metal poisoning"

            It's in the vaccines I tell ya!

            In the glorious future, Hail Clinton, the proles won't be permitted tools of resistance like lasers, guns or drones, hence these 'incidents' must occur in order that we may be freed from the burden of our freedom.

            1. mics39

              Re: 15 days jail time ?

              What, freedom to indiscriminately blind, kill, bomb and ram passenger jet? No wonder you sick fucks keep voting cretins like Bush and Trump. Selfish Americans ...

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Hail Clinton?

              You do realize your guy won, right?

              Maybe one of the things he'll do to "make America great" is pass a law banning state and local government from keeping kids out of school unless they've had their vaccinations. Trump loves conspiracy theories, and many of his voters tend to be anti-science, so he's probably down with the whole "autism is caused by vaccines" bullshit.

          4. kain preacher

            Re: 15 days jail time ?

            Are not talking just about lead. Copper, cesium. Cadmium and water that looks like oil.

  2. Dr Scrum Master
    Headmaster

    aircrafts?

    Fire the subs!

    1. Ralph the Wonder Llama
      Meh

      Re: Fire the subs

      They have already - hopefully - been sacked for previous indiscretions too many to mention. Those responsible for sacking the previous subs have been sacked. They have been replaced at great expense and at the last minute by 47,000 Mexican Whooping Llamas.

      Or something.

  3. Stevie

    Bah!

    Aaand so it will go on until laws are proposed to limit access to the laser tools, at which point an outbreak of crying, wailing and gnashing of teeth will occur.

    Crying crocodile tears, mendacious wailing and ... no, it's no good. I don't have a tooth-themed metaphor for insincere behavior by idiots.

    As usual, a few brainless organ-bank candidates piss in the pool and ruin it for everyone.

    1. DNTP

      Re: Bah!

      We don't want responsible people to not be allowed to own cool things, which is why we think idiots who deliberately do stuff like this to pilots should be charged with assault, battery, reckless endangerment, attempted murder, whatever else, and given thirty-to-life so they have plenty of time to realize that for once in their god damn worthless lives, their actions have consequences.

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: Bah!

        I think it is time to treat them the same as a firearm as far as use is concerned. Shining a laser in public should be treated the same way as discharging a firearm. So legitimate safe use for experimenters, lighting effects, engravers and even sad Powerpoint bore-monkeys etc can remain untroubled whilst fuckwits get locked up.

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: Bah!

          "I think it is time to treat them the same as a firearm as far as use is concerned."

          In the US?

          1. werdsmith Silver badge

            Re: Bah!

            "I think it is time to treat them the same as a firearm as far as use is concerned."

            In the US?

            Yes in the US. I'm pretty sure that the law in the US doesn't allow shooting at airliners or shooting people in the eyes for no good reason.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Bah!

          California now treats it as brandishing a weapon and in cases like this assault. There are appropriate laws on the book already. Just use them

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Bah!

        and given thirty-to-life so they have plenty of time to realize that for once in their god damn worthless lives, their actions have consequences

        Whilst that might seem well deserved, the US already has something around 0.9% of adults in prison, and a further 2% on probation or parole. Whilst locking up laser wielding fuckwits might be just, there's millions of fuckwits, so where are you going to put them? And can we afford the additional cost of locking them up (around $50k a year each)? And for this calibre of individual, there's already the prospect of fines and jail, so why will the rationalise a longer sentence as a greater deterrent? With 8,000 offences reported each year to the FAA, putting those people away for only six months each would cost $200m. This is for known laser illuminations, I assume the attempted number is several times greater....

        Whilst it will be shouted down mercilessly, I seriously suggest that corporal punishment would be an excellent punishment for this type of offence. That would have lower cost than jail, done publicly would probably be a greater deterrent to others, and I suspect that the perps would actually be able to better associate the pain and humiliation of having their arse flogged in public with the idea of "don't do it again", compared to the alternative of a visit to the big house, or fines they can't and won't pay.

        1. Rich 11

          Re: Bah!

          Whilst it will be shouted down mercilessly, I seriously suggest that corporal punishment would be an excellent punishment for this type of offence.

          There are reasons why corporal punishment has been abandoned in much of the world, and why we decry flogging in Saudi Arabia and other countries. Let's not take a backwards step just to satisfy one person's need to observe another person's suffering. Yours is a gut response to a wider complex problem, as your words suggest you already know.

          Not all punishments are going to work as a deterrent with everyone. Removing people from society for years or decades isn't always appropriate either -- it's always expensive and often unjust (look at what the 'three strikes and you're out' policy has done in the US). The justice system in many countries needs reform, and a concentrated effort made on rehabilitation as being the most reliable and cost-effective way of protecting society. That's where all the evidence points.

          1. HieronymusBloggs

            Re: Bah!

            "There are reasons why corporal punishment has been abandoned in much of the world, and why we decry flogging in Saudi Arabia and other countries"

            There's a difference between flogging someone for having a beer and doing it to someone who tried to blind the pilot of an aircraft or ferry.

            1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
              Facepalm

              Re: Bah!

              "There's a difference between flogging someone for having a beer and doing it to someone who tried to blind the pilot of an aircraft or ferry."

              Spot on mate! Lets just cut the bastards hands off and see them try to do it again. Fuck yeah!

        2. Robert Helpmann??
          Big Brother

          Re: Bah!

          Whilst locking up laser wielding fuckwits might be just, there's millions of fuckwits, so where are you going to put them?

          I suggest any number of small islands in various oceans might prove useful for this purpose. Just air drop food in from time to time. There's no real need for guards, so it would end up being relatively cheap. We might even set up cameras all over the place and create a reality show from the footage and turn a profit. Yes, this could work.

          1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

            Re: Bah!

            "I suggest any number of small islands in various oceans might prove useful for this purpose."

            So, technically, Britain?

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Bah!

            The Falkland islands are relatively uninhabited, a long way from anywhere and it would have the additional benefit of really pissing off the Argentinians. If the Falkland islanders can't be bribed to put up with it, try South Georgia.

      3. Bill Michaelson

        Re: Bah!

        A minimum age for possession, or appropriate adult supervision is probably a reasonable legal constraint. Beyond that, yes, misuse must incur appropriate penalties.

      4. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Bah!

        "and given thirty-to-life "

        The US already has the worlds highest per capita prison population. Maybe Trump needs to build a wall around a significantly large chunk of the US and partition the country. Maybe an IQ test could be used to decide who gets to live on the outside.

      5. Vic

        Re: Bah!

        their actions have consequences.

        But their actions don't have consequences - not for them, anyway.

        This pillock has a history of targeting people with lasers - e.g. shining them into faces at close range. It's deliberate. Just search for "Mark Raden laser" to get a taste of what this animal is like. And yet he has had little or no punishment for any of these attacks; even this latest one has only cost him a fortnight in clink and a couple of grand.

        I don't normally approve if the double-jeopardy civil suits than invariably accompany criminal trials in the US, bat at least this time, his victims were awarded $100K against him. It remains to be seen if he will ever pay.

        Vic.

        1. kain preacher

          Re: Bah!

          I wounder if they can try him federal court since this involves ships.

    2. M E H
      WTF?

      Re: Bah!

      Is there actually a legitimate use for a handheld laser that powerful?

      Apart from amusing cats/presentations I don't know why anyone would want a laser pointer and they don't need to be any more powerful than a simple torch.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Bah!

        Is entertainment not a legitimate use? By anyone's definition, subject to safety constraints.

      2. Stevie

        Re: Legitimate use 4 M E H

        I believe that the instrument in question might have been intended to be fastened to a firearm as a sighting device.

    3. kain preacher

      Re: Bah!

      You don't need any new laws. This should be battery on person ,assault, assault with deadly weapon. All can get yo years in the clink.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Bah!

        "assault with deadly weapon."

        Most of the worlds military would be very happy to find that a "deadly" hand held, cheap and easily portable laser weapon was available that just needs a couple of Duracells to "re-load".

  4. Oh Homer
    Flame

    Motive?

    I don't get it. Are these idiots mentally deranged or just evil?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Motive?

      Or just Septics?

      1. HieronymusBloggs

        Re: Motive?

        "Or just Septics?"

        I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that wasn't rhyming slang.

    2. ma1010

      Re: Motive?

      I don't begin to understand it, either. But there are lots of twisted people of this type. I think it's the same sort of mentality that writes viruses that just screw up computers and spreads them around to infect computers of people they don't even know. I've always wondered what the point of that was.

      Perhaps more or less the same sort of motivation here? Just 5 year old mentalities playing with grown-up stuff, I guess.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    treatment

    The morons with the lasers need the Goldfinger treatment.

    No Mr. Moron, I don't expect you to talk. I also don't expect you to die... We'll stop the laser after it removes some parts of your body that you will not like losing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: removes some parts of your body

      Ensuring they won't reproduce? OK with me.

  6. TRT Silver badge

    Cretins...

    round our way have taken to lasering bus drivers and lorry drivers down the high street.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Cretins...

      On behalf of Cretins everywhere, I deplore your use of our name; no cretin would ever be stupid enough to.... you know the rest.

      These "people" are so low on the evolutionary scale, they are best described as "Pond Scum".

      1. John Robson Silver badge

        Re: Cretins...

        Please don't insult pond scum.

  7. David 132 Silver badge
    Flame

    You ask why?

    but you have to wonder what twisted fun these laser-wielding morons think they are having.

    I suspect that if you asked one of these mouth-breathing chavs, you'd get that perennial answer/excuse:

    "Well, it's a laff, innit?"

    I'm afraid that on matters of social recidivism such as this, I'm of the hanging-drawing-and-quartering's-too-good-for-'em persuasion.

    1. Just Enough

      Re: You ask why?

      "but you have to wonder what twisted fun these laser-wielding morons think they are having."

      There's a verb there that doesn't belong in this context. Can you spot it?

      Don't attribute faculties to people that they don't have.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So... where can I get one like the crazy guy on the front page has?

  9. Ralph B

    Dragonfire?

    Are we sure this chap wasn't just a contractor working for the Dragonfire consortium?

    They have to be doing something with that £30m.

  10. tony2heads

    Filters

    Lasers are inherently narrow band so I suggest that all cockpits (and bridges on ferries) should be fitted with filters to remove the green laser lights.

    If that is too expensive, give the pilots googles with filters.

    1. tiggity Silver badge

      Re: Filters

      Not just green light though.

      Slippery slope if you start filtering certain bands of certain colours, given that in boat navigation green and red lights are used extensively to show you what route to take.

      Filters coudl potentially make navigation buoy lights harder to see which is not great if visibility is poor anyway.

      Yes I know there are lots of fancy GPS nav systems for boats, but you can get situations in ports etc where an incident means lanes need to temporarily change so for belt & braces approach you need to see lights to know you are not going somewhere risky

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Filters - or retro-reflectors

      And fit the vessels with retro-reflectors. Then the perpetrators will gain instant justice. Inexpensive, easy to fit, passive, self-targeting.

  11. Potemkine Silver badge

    "Les cons, ça ose tout, c'est même à ça qu'on les reconnait"

    Morons dare everything, actually, that's how you know they're morons.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This:

    Engage Devils Advocate mode / Check: On

    " In a previous incident, the captain of a ferry and his first mate suffered permanent retinal burns after local resident Mark Raden........"

    With WHAT??

    A 50mw green laser??

    Wouldnt do ANYTHING to eyes unless almost staring directley into the beam, even then the blink response would shut the laser light out.

    I'm not condoning i'm just curious as to what laser was used and at what distance they were "hit" to cause permanent retinal damage as the monies paid as compensation seem very very small for losing eyesight.

    1. Mike Shepherd
      Meh

      Re: This:

      50mW (1/20W) may not be insignificant when focused onto a retina. It's not just the heating: the term "burn" is used here to describe the effect of very bright light on the pigmented receptors. The good collimation of a laser means that a signficant portion of the power reaches the target. (The beam doesn't spread).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: This:

      With WHAT?? A 50mw green laser??

      Do a bit of a search, and you'll see that the device confiscated from Raden was a 5,000 mW blue industrial purpose laser that cost the fat end of $200 (picture of the actual confiscated device are out there). I'd say that the crew were rather lucky they didn't get more serious eye injuries, and Raden got off far too lightly.

      We're about the misuse of a laser gun sight, a presentation pointer, or even a middleweight class IIIA unit: This was a relatively costly purchase, bought as a weapon, used intentionally as a weapon.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: This: @ledswinger

        All i can find is reference to a "powerfull blue laser".

        So, i agree as i own a 1watt blue laser i wouldn't want that near my eyes, however, the lenses are generally poor and the focal lenght is only a few metres away.

        Of course upgraded optics are availble.

  13. Ed3

    Christmas Decorations

    Slightly apropos, was driving through a neighborhood the other night when I was hit with a green flash. It was for half a second and did not affect my night vision, but was certainly annoying.

    Long story longer, it was one of those laser Christmas decoration things. It was pointed at the house, but one of the beams was hitting something reflective which allowed "leakage" toward the street.

    1. TheDillinquent
      Facepalm

      Re: Christmas Decorations

      I rather suspect that most of the reported 'laser incidents' are accidental rather than malicious. To do any real damage (i.e. not just claimed injury for insurance purposes) a high power laser would have to be held on target for more than a few milliseconds.

      As most freely available LPs are in the milliwatt class and given the difficulty of holding a beam on target at anything over a few metres distance I think that the dangers have been exaggerated.

      The evidence seems to support this. With than 5,352 lasering incidents recorded in 2015 if there was any real danger one would have expected at least some of these to have real repercussions.

  14. Julifriend
    WTF?

    A moron in an Impreza flashed a green laser at my car windscreen one night a couple of weeks ago after I had the audacity to flash my lights after he cut me up and forced me to brake sharply to avoid an accident. Regrettably his rear number plate was so filthy his registration plate could not be read.

    1. Lotaresco

      Person of mean disposition

      "A moron in an Impreza"

      Bzzt tautology.

      " flashed a green laser at my car windscreen "

      Some divot was doing the same from the bridge over the M11 at J8A for Stansted. Fortunately he was behind me, but the inside of the car lit up. The mirror auto-dimmed. I reported it to plod who seemed to not give a damn, not even when I pointed out that he was probably there to target aircraft landing at Stansted. Even more galling is that the police have a traffic outpost at Birchanger so arresting the idiot would have been child's play.

  15. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Let's just get Old Testament about this. An eye for an eye. And go to the permanent back of the queue for a guide dog.

  16. Floydian Slip
    Mushroom

    Hmmmm.......

    I'm wondering whether a lower powered device could be built in to the front of my rear view mirror to annoy the idiots who sit at junctions and hold their car on the brakes, rather than using the hand (parking) brake or just releasing the brakes when they come to a standstill on level ground.

    It's a real pain to be dazzled on long winter nights by the moron in front. More so when it's a new Audi TT because Audi seem to have forgotten that the high level brake light should be exactly that, HIGH level. It defeats the purpose to have it mounted along the edge of the boot and the new Audi's goes from edge to edge - an almost unbroken strip of bright red LEDs from one side of the car t'other.

    </rant>

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hmmmm.......

      I was no.9 in a two lane queue at the lights last week, EVERY car in front of me was sat with their brake lights on.

      I wish I still owned a high power air rifle.

      I got stuck behind another moron (Audi TT natch.) in heavy traffic - with her fogs blazing, by dint of magic (same 2 lane section as above), I got in front and slapped MY rear fogs on - she had the nerve to flash me!!!

      5 minutes later, and she was in front again, still with her fogs on, and yelling at me through her window as she went past.

    2. Vladimir Nicolici

      Re: Hmmmm.......

      I almost always keep my car on the brakes. Reduces the risk of being hit from behind by people not realizing you are stopped. Yes, if I know I will be stopped for more than 2 minutes I may use the parking brake, after another car stops behind me.

      Depending on visibility, when I'm the last car stopped in a column of cars, I may even turn on my fog light and my blinkers if I estimate the cars behind me might be surprised that I'm stopped there.

      As an additional advantage, holding the brake provides a clue to the one behind you that you are about to move when you release the brake, and people reacting more quickly means more cars will be able to cross the junction during the green light.

      And if you are dazzled by brake lights you may want to consult an eye doctor. If your eyes are so tired, you may need glasses, or you have been driving for too long, which is a safety issue in itself.

      1. Fonant

        Re: Hmmmm.......

        So your car is invisible when stopped, even with the legally-required and standard tail lights? But then suddenly becomes visible if the rear lights get a little bit brighter?

        Suggest you read the Highway Code again, and check the section about fog lights, Rule 236:

        You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves.

        This rule is a MUST because it is covered by a law: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/regulation/27/made

        1. Kiwi
          FAIL

          Re: Hmmmm.......

          So your car is invisible when stopped, even with the legally-required and standard tail lights? But then suddenly becomes visible if the rear lights get a little bit brighter?

          And yet so many nose-tail crashes occur because the person coming from behind didn't realise the vehicle in front was completely stopped, or thought they were starting off. But as most modern vehicles have some sort of extra brakelight fitted, it's not just brighter lights but an extra light that shows that the driver has the brakes on the vehicle and is therefore either stopped or slowing.

          When you are approaching a stationary or slow vehicle at any speed, it can be difficult to determine how fast they are going to judge your speed accordingly, and too many people wind up in accidents because people suck at this. The extra bulb in a different position helps.

          Me, I'm watching what is behind me more than what is in front. I will use my brakes to indicate (via the high stop light) that I am stopped/slowing, to protect myself from a crash. Often I will flash my brakes as someone is approaching, especially when on the bike. Better to risk someone being briefly dazzled by RED light than them hitting and injuring/killing someone. Would you rather I inconvenience you by a bit of extra red light or the plod inconvenience you by a date with the beak on a careless driving charge?

          (you do know why astronomers use RED, right? If it's a problem clean your windscreen or get your eyes checked!)

  17. Haku

    Incedents like this is precicely why I've never bought green laser pointers for friends or friends of friends who have on more than one occasion now seen my one and asked me to get me them one the next time I'm shopping online for stuff.

    If they're too stupid to use the internet to buy a simple laser pointer they're too stupid to be in posession of one - I won't be party to that level of idiocy.

  18. Juan Inamillion

    The law

    I would have thought, in the instance of actual harm, that charges of either ABH or GBH could have have been applicable (at least in the UK, or equivalent in the US). Some fairly serious sentencing could then be applied. 'Assault with a deadly weapon' ... hmmm..

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