New law makes it illegal to point lasers at trains

[GreatLakesRailfan]

I wonder if the police will pay a reward if I provide them the names of some railfans that have walkie talkies transmitting illegally on railroad frequencies?

A radio is not a laser or directed energy device.

The FCC might show interest in people transmitting illegally. The local police may show some interest if you can find a law that actually applies to a radio.

Actually, if you have a radio/scanner that can pick up police channels, while in a moving vehicle (at least in Michigan) you will be cited by police. Otherwise,
it is up to them if they want to report anyone for RR channel use, but they probably don't care...

I speak from experience, as someone who I met at work (near the RR yard) was a RRfan, and talked me into taking him on a jaunt to see some trains. When we stopped somewhere, a police officer at that location (a gas station near some tracks) asked what we were up to, so my acquaintance told him. He then asked me if I knew if his radio had their channels on it. That's when I found out about the law, and it's penalty if violated, and the officer checked every channel on his radio. Thankfully, it didn't!

-barny

Just out of curiosity, how long ago did that take place? The law changed several years ago, but before it did, you could get a permit from the state police to carry/listen to a scanner in a motor vehicle. I believe most railfans here would have had one as it would have been a railfan who told me where to apply for one. I still carry it, just​ in case I run across any Barney Fife's who haven't bothered to reread the applicable laws in the past decade or so...

Indiana, on the other hand, is a totally different story.

[Doktor No]

Yeah, what GLRfan said. I too applied for the scanner license and have one with me but no longer do you need one. Of course if you're driving a certain type of vehicle with green plates from Mars and a foil hat you NEED ONE...bwahahaha.
Indiana...DON'T HAVE A SCANNER WITH YOU out of state plates or not. We were stopped at Porter awaiting the signal from our favorite Conrail dispatcher one evening. There was a commotion in housing down towards the middle of our old Porter Yard. So I took a walk, had my railroad radio on my belt. As I wandered by the scene an officer stopped and asked what I was doing and what was that THING on my belt. I told him what it was, he told me their scanner problem and I wandered off, awaiting said signal from Barb...that never came... till third shift came on duty.

[barnstormer]

Just out of curiosity, how long ago did that take place? The law changed several years ago, but before it did, you could get a permit from the state police to carry/listen to a scanner in a motor vehicle. I believe most railfans here would have had one as it would have been a railfan who told me where to apply for one. I still carry it, just​ in case I run across any Barney Fife's who haven't bothered to reread the applicable laws in the past decade or so...

Indiana, on the other hand, is a totally different story.

Yeah....it was more than 20 yrs ago, but being that I don't chase trains, I run them, so I don't keep up with any changes that might take place in the realm of radio scanners and railroad fans.

My passion is flying, something that I am entertaining the notion of getting back in the saddle of, being that flying is in our family (grandfather, both parents; brother & I both took ground-school together) so it's in our DNA....

What I do remember is 2 officers telling me I could go to jail if the scanner that this other individual, who I was driving around, had police channels on it. It didn't. Whew!

Seems however, that there may still be officers out there who aren't aware of the changes either. (first there was one in 1991 allowing scanners with police frequencies....if HAM operator or having a permit; one in 2006, allowing them without permit for anyone who wants it.)

But back to the laser-thing......even Barny Fife (no relation) couldn't say anything to a RR fan about cameras with laser focus, so long as you are standing on property that is either public, or is private--with the owner's permission. Just don't have a high-intensity laser pointer ON you while doing this, or you could be mistaken for someone who actually IS violating the law and pointing them at trains....

-barny

[justalurker66]

The trouble with "Barney" is that he is likely to think that you are breaking some law by taking a picture. Which can disrupt your day until "Andy" comes along and sorts out the problem.

The directed energy/laser law will help when those incidents occur. Do they occur? I have heard of people lighting up aircraft with lasers but not trains.

[barnstormer]

The trouble with "Barney" is that he is likely to think that you are breaking some law by taking a picture. Which can disrupt your day until "Andy" comes along and sorts out the problem.

We sometimes have to deal with "Barney" too, when it comes to crossing accidents and drug-testing (breathalizer) of crews when they don't possess the authority to do so, (the F.R.A. frowns on state or municipal officers trampling on their authority, as we are federally-governed railroad crews), though 95% of them do just fine. They do possess the authority to question you about your activity, so just be honest and tell them your hobby, and hopefully you'll be dealing with Andy instead of Barney.

-barny

[NYCMan]

In response to Just-a-lurker's comments, there have been numerous reported incidents of lasers being shined in the windows of locomotives and into the eyes of locomotive engineers. In a number of these cases, the train had to be stopped and the engineer hospitalized due to being blinded by the incident. A couple years back, there were a number of such incidents in California nearby to San Francisco (Martinez, CA comes to mind as one such location). I also recall such incidents, with engineers being blinded and hospitalized, in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Of course, airplanes and helicopters seem to get more press about their incidents than "dirty, old, stinky, noisy" trains do.

Someone commented about the different classes of lasers. Even Class I lasers - considered to be "safe" - can still cause damage to the retina of the eye. A recent news article described a teenager who reflected a simple laser pointer through a lens (magnifying glass?) which caused the teen to suffer permanent eye damage.