[AstralTraveller (David)]

Dear Starless,

Thank you for your concern about attacks on innocent motorists. How very selfless of you. I too have the best interest of my fellow motorists at heart and so have done some further investigation.

Lidar used in Australia is a Class 1 laser as defined by the U.S. FDA., and so should not cause any damage even with continuous exposure. See http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/script...cfm?FR=1040.10
http://www.lasertech.com/Speed_Enfor...ges/UL100.htm#
http://www.lasertech.com/Speed_Enfor...100LR.Spec.pdf

[Yes, lasers are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. So which is it? I shone my laser pointer down my throat but was I still hungry. So I shone it up my nose but there wasn't even a buzz. Lastly I shone it into my ear and there was a green spot on the opposite wall.]

For a Class 1 at 905nm the emission limit appears to 9.5x10^-7 W. The situation is a bit different for pulsed radiation where the limit is around 1.7x10^-3 J. In any case a value of 125mW seems to be way way too big.

By comparison my 30mW pointer is rated as Class IIIb which at its wavelength means more than 0.005W and less than 0.5W. That seems to make sense.