Laser pointers illegal (NSW) Answered

doesn't it say on a big shiny sticker not to shine it in anyones eyes? geez, either theyre getting stupider or they just dont feel like reading the big red square on the package

Never been to high school, have you? Very educational on the intelligence and empathy level of the population :(

nah, im going into high school next year

A small number of people in the UK have been prosecuted for shining laser pointers at landing airliners.

mmmmmmm i wonder why does it blind the pilot or something?

Yes. Read the article ;)

Potentially, depending on the laser used. It certainly dazzles them, stopping them seeing their instruments etc.

"I have a little list They never will be missed..." They're lawyers, they're experts at not making sense.

Lol have you ever heard the joke about the lawyers? It was on family guy I think, Somone was going to sue the devil or something and he needed a lawyer so he turned around to everyone and said "Is anyone here a lawyer?" and everyone rose their hands lmfao.

Lol...

This post is old enough that it predates the incandescent law : ) Legislators have the urge to, well, legislate in order to feel useful : )

but heck cant all them together think before they do ? (imagining loads of blown up cfls in the trash that were used in places where only incandescent is appropriate)

"When you have a hammer, all problems look like nails" If legislators don't legislate, what are they going to do? Get their hands dirty with actual work?

That's exactly it. This is stupider than the law about eating oranges on sunday in Cali.... Like really how the hell do you aim a hand held laser pointer at a plane in the sky that's going like 700km/h and actually hit someone in the eye, besides unless it was one of those $5,000 wickedlazers, most laser pointers dissapate at 500 meters being the farthest I've seen most cheap can go, and the dot just keeps getting bigger and weaker. It's just one of those un-realistic laws being passed, and most won't even pay attention to it when they use laser pointers. Are they gonna stop selling those cheap laser pointers in stores?

They are getting hit at takeoff and landing (or over Las Vegas) when they are both close to the ground, going slow, and looking at the ground.

Really? What do people go run out to the airport fence and shine their laser pointer at the plane as its coming down? Although i suppose this would be the best time to try and "crash a plane". I think you'd have to be able to blind the pilot for at least 30 seconds to a minute in one go before something bad would happen. Like really, if they do manage to bounce a laser off the back of ONE of his retinas, all that's most likely to do is make him look around wondering WTF was that??!?

You seriously overestimate the human eye. It only takes a fraction of a second to cause retinal damage, or blind someone enough to distract them and make them crash on landing. But, once again, legislators have only legislation to feel useful-anything else would cost money : )

You're right. But I was just going by the fact that I've been shined in the eye with a laser, aswell as accidently shining it in my eye myself... I didn't think they really caused any noticable damage unless you held it in your eye for 5 minutes or something (like really, what's a 5mw laser gonna do). But you know what blind spots are, old people get them and they can only see around the center of their vision, but not straight on in their middleground view. I've noticed, I don't know if it's because I'm tired, stressed, or whatever, but sometimes I notice the image in my eyes is sharper towards the edge of the vision, and not so in the middle of my field of view. However right now my eyes "feel" fine in my head like they always have, and I can focus pretty much just fine. Actually no, you've made me think just now.... I was boughten glasses when I was young (8-9 yrs?) as my optometrist and mother thought I needed them. At the time my vision was perfect and crisp, and still IS, but I never did wear those glasses as it only seemed to fatigue my eyes after a couple hours of use. This focusing problem I once in a while notice in the middle of my "FOV", perhaps has something to do with that neglect? Wow, it's amazing how post's topics change so rapidly sometimes... sorry bout that.

Lot of things can make your vision a bit fuzzy, including being dehydrated. Vision problems frequently creep up on you and you don't notice them. Ask someone who wears glasses about the first time they got them-most of the time they are amazed at how different the world suddenly looked. For me, suddenly the trees had leaves : O

Being hydrated or not makes sense, seeing as the eyeball is a giant ball of water in your head. Sometimes they can creep up on you, sometimes not. As far as asking someone about their glasses, I can see how some people are amazed when they can see again, but for one, I don't like glasses on my face unless I need to really wear sunglasses or the such. And secondly, I chose to neglect wearing them as a child because when I put them on, they didn't make me see even 1/8th better than without them. I thought it was just a joke. I'm glad you can see the leaves :-D They're pretty aren't they?