Speed Enforced By Aircraft

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I laugh every time I see those signs.
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I don't believe I have ever seen a plane, or LIDAR, speed trap.

When was the last time speed was enforced by aircraft?
 
There used to be a CHP plane routinely patrol the I-15 frwy between Victorville, CA and Las Vegas.

I know a few people who got speeding tickets this way. Obviously, the plane works with an officer on the ground to issue tickets.

I don't know if a plane is still used or not.
 
The State of Wisconsin has six (6) Ceesna 172's used for speed enforcement. 3 of them were ordered from Cessma with specific on board speed enforcement equipment. They nailed my good friend on his Honda motorcycle, leaving the the Superbike races at Elkhart Lake (Road America). His speed was very high. Watch for the white "crosses" painted in the shoulder.
 
Yeah I don't know why you'd bother stopping if you were on a "superbike", especially if you knew you got caught at a high enough speed to carry jail time. Just go for it, the bike should be faster than the plane if the plane wanted to pursue you.
 
Definitely true in Ontario:

Quote:
“The signage is 100 per cent accurate,” says Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Peter Leon. “The plane flies 1,000 hours a year and we get about 5,000 Highway Traffic Act infractions.”

The signs aren’t just hot air — the OPP’s Cessna 206 has been patrolling above Ontario roads since 2008.

The plane carries at least two officers — the pilot and a spotter. The spotter, well, spots speeders, unsafe passers, and aggressive and impaired drivers.

Then, they radio the report to the ground, where patrol cars are dispatched to intercept the speeders and pull them over, just like in a normal traffic stop.

“They can’t see licence plates from up there,” Leon says. “We give a detailed description of the vehicle — for example, a silver truck with a black tonneau cover.”

Hawkeye, but no radar

The plane doesn’t use radar. All the spotter needs is a stop watch.

“Sometimes you’ll see markings on roadways — the person in the aircraft has a stop watch and times how long cars take to go between the arrows,” Leon says. “They can determine the speed of the vehicle and issue a ticket.”

Do the tickets hold up in court? For example, couldn’t you say you were the wrong silver truck?

“Usually the plane will stay with the vehicle until they know that it’s been stopped,” Leon says.

If the ticket is contested, the spotter and the officer who pulled the car over will have to go to court to testify.

Police generally don’t announce when the plane is going to be on patrol, Leon says.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Ohio State Highway Patrol still uses them-don't ask how I know...
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I earned such a citation while driving on 71 just south of Lexington.
We had been to Mid-Ohio for some sort of race and were on our way home in my MGB.
This would have been in the mid-eighties, while we were married but still childless.
I got waved over to the shoulder by an OSP trooper on foot. They had a number of other cars pulled over.
Bottom line was that they cited me for seventeen over in those 55 MPH NMSL days.
The guy running the stopwatches in the C172 must have been really good, since I was running 4K in direct fourth, which would have been about 72 MPH.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
Yeah I don't know why you'd bother stopping if you were on a "superbike", especially if you knew you got caught at a high enough speed to carry jail time. Just go for it, the bike should be faster than the plane if the plane wanted to pursue you.


Well, as a wise old cop once told me, "My radio is faster than your car". Also, while a Japanese liter bike is much faster than a C172, the Cessna can fly in a straight line while the guy on the bike has to follow the road.
Finally, they can always block the highway with a couple of cruisers and I'd hate to think of what hitting stop sticks would do to a guy on a bike at speed.
I successfully eluded twice but I was young and dumb at the time.
 
No wonder they give out so many tickets.. Gotta pay the cost of using planes... Ridiculous... Most tickets given out are not to protect us. Always $
 
I know a guy personally that got hauled off the jail going 94 over the speed limit in a 70mph zone of I-5 nb near here. Cop pulled in after him into a gas station, and off they went.
 
Originally Posted By: CKN
There used to be a CHP plane routinely patrol the I-15 frwy between Victorville, CA and Las Vegas.

I know a few people who got speeding tickets this way. Obviously, the plane works with an officer on the ground to issue tickets.

I don't know if a plane is still used or not.

Some years ago, early 80's to mid 90's, CHP did use aircraft to catch speeder on I-15 up to Nevada border. On Nevada side I think NHP flies their own aircraft.

I got ticket for going 70 MPH in mid 80's when the speed limit was 55 MPH. The Nevada highway patrol was on the highway waved me in.

The I-15 near San Diego still have that sign.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Ohio State Highway Patrol still uses them-don't ask how I know...
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Yes they sure do. Saw the traps many times when I was trucking. Bear in the air. Painted lines on the road for timing marks.
 
Originally Posted By: OilyWaterMIXER
I laugh every time I see those signs.
lol.gif



Well, you'll look like a fool laughing in Iowa. The state patrol air wing has four Cessna 182 aircraft, two Cessna 172 aircraft and one Cessna 206 aircraft that are used for traffic patrol. Ever seen some of those seemingly random white lines painted across the highway? The lines are pre-measured and the aircraft time you between the lines. Then they radio ahead to the waiting patrol car if you're dumb enough to be speeding or driving like a laughing idiot. And being above the traffic gives them a visual advantage-they can see quite well which vehicle(s) are traveling faster than the rest. Not only do they patrol interstates, but they also assist the nearby regional law enforcement with speed traps on occasion.

Weather permitting, the planes are up 7 days a week.
 
The State Patrol here in MN does this somewhat regularly. I hear them on my scanner when they're doing it. Their favorite stretch of road for this is I-94 just north of downtown Minneapolis. You can even see their plane on Flightradar24.

 
I always see those signs when I'm in California. I always laugh too, cause I highly doubt California has the money to pay for an aircraft to track cars speeding. If they do, then that's one reason they are broke.
 
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