A LIDAR system comprising: an emitter configured to emit at least one light beam; a detector configured for receiving light reflected from surrounding objects; and a rotatable scanning element configured for receiving the at least one light beam and scanning the at least one light beam out of the system by rotating about an axis of rotation, the rotatable scanning element comprising: a reflective prism having at least four faces inclined relative to the axis of rotation, and a ring element fixedly connected to the reflective prism, the ring element having an interior edge face, forming a reflective surface, extending around the axis of rotation generally in a plane orthogonal to the axis of rotation, the interior edge face having a variable angle about the axis of rotation, a normal of the interior edge face varying about the axis of rotation from perpendicular to skewed relative to the axis of rotation, the emitter, the detector, and the rotatable scanning element being arranged such that: the at least one light beam is incident on the interior edge face of the ring element and subsequently on one face of the at least four faces of the reflective prism, an angle of incidence of the at least one beam on the face depending on the variable angle of the ring element, and light reflected from surrounding objects being reflected by one of the at least four faces of the reflective prism into the detector. an emitter configured to emit at least one light beam; a detector configured for receiving light reflected from surrounding objects; and a rotatable scanning element configured for receiving the at least one light beam and scanning the at least one light beam out of the system by rotating about an axis of rotation, the rotatable scanning element comprising: a reflective prism having at least four faces inclined relative to the axis of rotation, and a ring element fixedly connected to the reflective prism, the ring element having an interior edge face, forming a reflective surface, extending around the axis of rotation generally in a plane orthogonal to the axis of rotation, the interior edge face having a variable angle about the axis of rotation, a normal of the interior edge face varying about the axis of rotation from perpendicular to skewed relative to the axis of rotation, a reflective prism having at least four faces inclined relative to the axis of rotation, and a ring element fixedly connected to the reflective prism, the ring element having an interior edge face, forming a reflective surface, extending around the axis of rotation generally in a plane orthogonal to the axis of rotation, the interior edge face having a variable angle about the axis of rotation, a normal of the interior edge face varying about the axis of rotation from perpendicular to skewed relative to the axis of rotation, the emitter, the detector, and the rotatable scanning element being arranged such that: the at least one light beam is incident on the interior edge face of the ring element and subsequently on one face of the at least four faces of the reflective prism, an angle of incidence of the at least one beam on the face depending on the variable angle of the ring element, and the at least one light beam is incident on the interior edge face of the ring element and subsequently on one face of the at least four faces of the reflective prism, an angle of incidence of the at least one beam on the face depending on the variable angle of the ring element, and