Friday, March 20, 2009 | 12:01 p.m.
Boulder City has six new laser speed detection systems to help nab speeding motorists, the Boulder City Police Department said.
Most of the enforcement will take place at Veterans Memorial Drive and U.S. 93 and also during construction on U.S. 93 toward Lake Mead.
A $12,330 Nevada Department of Public Safety grant bought the six lasers, Detective Mark Dubois said.
Nevada Highway Patrol trained officers to use the systems, which went on the roads this month, Chief Thomas Finn said.
Finn said the department plans to use the lasers mostly at the intersection at the highway and Veterans Memorial Drive, which sees frequent car accidents. The speed limit there is 55 mph.
By next year, the new devices are expected to reduce accidents at U.S. 93 and Veterans Memorial Drive by 10 percent, police said.
Officers will also use the lasers during construction on the highway from Colorado Street to Pacific Way, Finn said. The speed limit there during construction is 35 mph.
The Light Detection and Ranging, or "LIDAR," systems look like "high-tech binoculars," Dubois said.
LIDAR police systems are more accurate than police radar, said Sgt. John Glenn, head of the traffic division. The units evade radar detection that motorists install to alert them of police speed monitoring devices and read the exact distance between itself and the vehicle or object it's aimed at, he said.
Correction: This story was updated to correct the location police anticipate using LIDAR systems.
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