Be Caution When Operating Laser Pointer Outdoor

There are several news about laser incidents by misusing of them outdoor in both aviation and non-aviation fields since the beginning of 2014. One must be full cautions when operating with laser pointer outside.

Seen from the news, most of them are aiming to point at something far away with laser pointers, and being arrested as they bring potential danger to aircrafts and vehicles drivers. Accordingly to criminals, some of them was only curious about the distance that a laser pointer can reach, they tested it not deliberately. There is also one case happed in January 9, an adult directed the laser at the child’s eyes in jest, unaware of the harmful consequences, resulting in serious retina damage.

By emitting a straight visible beam which is able to see for miles away, laser pointer is always used to target things in a far away distance. And because of that, laser pointer is becoming so popular, all people who ever see it would be attracted and loves it at once. And with the development of laser diode technology, the price of laser pointer is becoming so competitive that all people can afford it. Then here comes the problem, the misusing of laser pointer causes serious incidents.

We all know the harm of a high-powered laser pointer, which can cause temporary or permanent blindness by shining it to eyes directly. But few people aware it also can cause serious incidents once pointing at others even in far place. 

Human’s eyes only can see things within meter in darkness, but even 1mW can travel at least 500 meters, which is many times longer than people’s optical observation. What’s more, the higher the power, the longer the distance that a laser beam can reach. One can never notice whether there are moving vehicles or aircrafts in the range that the laser beam might hit when operating a laser pointer at night. For taxi drivers or pilots, it is full of danger once hit by a beam of laser suddenly when they are driving cars or aircraft. By instinct, they need to escape the strong light at once, so as to causing sudden turn. Once they are shined by the strong beam into eyes, even temporary blindness can cause serious incidents. There are other moving vehicles, may result in traffic incidents. Also there are hundreds of passengers in the aircrafts, the harm would be unimaginable.

According to the law, it is not allowed to operate the laser pointer outdoor with power more than 5mW. For astronomy researchers, only specified viewing decks can use them.

One must be fully aware it may bring potential danger by shining laser pointers ourdoor, never point at moving spots in the sky it might be an aircrafts, and never use it in public.