GREENSBORO -- The North Carolina Highway Patrol has a new weapon in their arsenal. The department rolled out its new LIDAR gun this week, and it's already putting the brakes on speeders.

It's the latest in high-tech help.

LIDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, is a new tool that arrived jsut in time for the Fourth of July holiday, and Sgt. A.W. Waddell says it's already helping his department a lot.

"We probably issued about 35 citations in about an hour and a half," he said.

Here's how LIDAR works: Troopers identify a car they think is speeding. They can then use a beam of light to identify the car. Once they pull the trigger, they know exactly how fast the car is going within seconds.

Waddell says unlike the old radars, "The use of LIDAR will allow us to use this instrument whether you're coming up on a car, in front of a car or beside a car. It helps us because we can really get out and enforce traffic during the holiday period or our busy times, Friday or whatever time it is during very heavy traffic."

And it's all done with pinpoint accuracy.

"It really allows us to hone in on that one driver who's being aggressive and causing problems on the roadways," Waddell added.

However, all this technology wasn’t come cheap. Each system costs $6,000, but Waddell says it's well worth the cost.

"Our main goal is not writing tickets but saving lives. But if you're going to break the speed limit, new equipment like LIDAR is going to cost you."

Waddell's office currently has six LIDAR guns. The Highway Patrol has roughly 25 statewide.