The Cessna spent 4-1/2 hours in the air Dec. 6, manned by Virginia State Police and winging over Interstate 64 in Chesapeake on a hunt for dangerous drivers.
They issued 14 tickets that Saturday, and it turned out those would be the last. Troopers haven't taken to the sky to enforce the rules of the road since.
Those 14 tickets came at a cost of roughly $90 an hour.
Nine years after Virginia changed its law to allow State Police to catch speeders from the air, the program is effectively over.
State Police blame millions of dollars in budget cuts, which have also forced the closure of its Manassas airport and the sale of one of its planes, spokeswoman Deborah Cox said.
The program might be re-instated when times are better. But the lawmaker who sponsored the bill that made aerial patrols possible doesn't expect that to happen until 2011 or later.
"It's really a shame," said Del. Jim Shuler of Blacksburg. "It's an excellent additional tool to monitor traffic and keep it under control. I hate to see programs like this cut. But the fact of the matter is Virginia State Police have been asked to do more and more law enforcement duties over the last few years with less and less funding."
State Police tout air patrols as a stealthy way to crack down on aggressive and dangerously fast drivers. You can see more from up there, drivers watching for police don't think to look up and radar detectors don't give airplanes away.
In 2000, signs went up along interstates across the commonwealth alerting drivers: "Speed limit enforced by aircraft." Four Cessnas were equipped with devices that calculate speed based on distance traveled and the time it took to travel that distance. A pilot, along with a trooper or sergeant or both, flew over interstates with course sites - three solid white lines at which State Police pushed a button when a vehicle crossed it, Cox said.
If the driver was speeding, the trooper in the air radioed a trooper on the ground, who would pull the car over. By year's end, State Police had issued 671 tickets. In 2001, they wrote 2,145. Then the number dropped drastically the following year, to 686. It fell to 111 in 2004.
Cox said pilots flew depending on weather, budget, man power and State Police projects; they never intended to patrol from the air every day.
When State Police began Operation Air, Land and Speed in July 2006, tickets took a big jump. The project pulled extra troopers to certain areas to target speeders and aggressive and reckless drivers, Cox said. The project continued through all of 2007; nearly 700 tickets were issued that year.
Then came 2008, and a single mission - the one over Chesapeake that produced 14 tickets. Deaths on Virginia roads last year dropped to the lowest point in the more than four decades State Police has tracked them, in part because fewer people were driving.
But, Shuler noted, truck traffic remains plenty heavy on Interstates 81 and 95. Those are the same roadways that concerned him nine years ago.
Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5208, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com
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I imagine the..
next logical step in airborn traffic enforcement will involve drones. As they become more prevalent, and the expertise for operating them becomes more widespread, I wager drones will become part of the traffic law enforcement apparatus. It stands to reason..
To ALL participants..
'Meet and greet', or , as it is better known as, the latest 'Beer Summit', will be held this Thursday at 6PM at The Fossil Rock Inn, Ste 108, 1457 Mt Pleasant Rd, Chesapeake, VA 23322-3919
(757) 389-5301
If you can make it, fine. If you can't, fine as well. But always remember we're trying to get more and more particpants to come out for these. If anyone has a venue for future meets, by all means, share that with us.
state codes
found these.....
§ 46.2-823. Unlawful speed forfeits right-of-way.
The driver of any vehicle traveling at an unlawful speed shall forfeit any right-of-way which he might otherwise have under this article.
§ 46.2-842. Driver to give way to overtaking vehicle.
Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on audible signal and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle. Any over-width, or slow-moving vehicle as defined by § 46.2-1081 shall be removed from the roadway at the nearest suitable location when necessary to allow traffic to pass.
Amusing Comments
It’s amusing to read comments from people justifying their negligent, passive-aggressive behavior under the guise that they are the only ones obeying the law, when they themselves have no idea what the law actually says on the subject. The distortions of the law that must be made to accommodate such poor behavior are so ridiculous it’s amazing that these comments are actually coming from adult licensed drivers. These are the types of brain-dead imbeciles that, upon seeing a fast approaching car in the lane to the left of them, quickly get over into that lane to slow the driver down in some bizarre, dysfunctional, altruistic effort to inflict their morality and driving ethics on others. Get educated, PLEASE, for everyone’s benefit. Go to http://leg1.state.va.us/000/src.htm and familiarize yourselves with §46.2-841 and §46.2-804; you know, that little thingie called the law.
Really?
Did you perhaps mean § 46.2-842.1
Good Research
No, though §46.2-842.1 more specifically addresses some of the comments here. Well done. I purposely sited code sections specific to passing on the right, and the idea that slower vehicles should keep right. If you read §46.2-804.1 very closely, it makes no mention of the speed limit; only the “normal speed of traffic.” This is where the idea that faster traffic therefore uses the left lane comes from that some readers apparently have a hard time understanding. It’s encouraging to see other readers make an effort to learn what the law says so that we can offer our thoughts using a common frame of reference and hopefully learn something to help us improve our driving.
Slow drivers the real problem
Anyone knows that it's the slow drivers--especially the ones who drive under the speed limit in the expressway's left lane--that are the true culprits here and among the most dangerous of operators. Germany has known this for decades and enforces a strict code of driving etiquette on Autobahns: Slower traffic keep right or face stiff fines.
Why not employ new technology?
Use a fixed balloon with high-quality internet capable cameras. It can be remotely monitored and no people are endangered in the skys or on the ground. No noise, no engine emissions--just some lighter-than air gas. The balloon could even be used to sell advertising to reduce the cost to taxpayers. I hate speeders and dangerous drivers--I'd like the effort to continue.
I want to know where they rent their planes
Most local FBO's rent Cessna's at over $100 an hour(operating an owned airplane costs even more.) When you consider the combined wages of the pilot and sergeant have to be easily $50 per hour, they would have to be renting at less than half the going rate to cost only $94 an hour. And that doesn't count the cost of the supporting ground units. I'd guess the true cost of that type of enforcement at well over $200 an hour.
But even so, I'm glad to see the procedure go. In addition to being expensive, it was unsafe. I've watched them flying at no more than 800 ft altitude at minimum airspeed with half flaps, over residential areas. If I had done that, I'd have lost my license. Flying low and slow, on the verge of stalling, over urban areas for hours at a time was an accident waiting to happen.
It was a bad idea all along, for a number of reasons. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should.
Depends on the pilots
I flew search and rescue with the Civil Air Patrol in Washington and Idaho. The mountains of the Cascades and Northern Rockies can have some of the most dangerous flying conditions, especially in winter. To check on things, we had to get real close, as low and slow as possible in some of the dangest situations. To my best recollection, in the twenty years I'm familiar with there wasnt a single accident with CAP planes from both Washington and Idaho wings flying such missions. Knowing this, I have to say it all depends on the pilots doing the flying. Out here, with all this flat terrain and fewer odd-ball air currents tossing you around, flying at 800 feet (that high was unheard of for us) with the flaps applied to get as slow as possible wouldn't be that difficult for a decent pilot.
Still, using planes to tap speeders and other highway traffic law breakers is a very expensive way to do it.
Like the Navy?
"Flying low and slow, on the verge of stalling, over urban areas for hours at a time was an accident waiting to happen"
You mean, like the Navy?
Don't forget about mutliple lane changers, etc.
I travel on Virginia roads and highways quite a bit for my job. One of the worst places for bad drvivers I have seen is on Interstate 64, near Williamsburg exits towards Hampton/Newport News. I have seen drivers of vechicles enter Interstate 64 from the entrance ramp, then change over 3 lanes to the left in one wreckless move. Plus it always seems in this part on interstate 64 there is a whole bunch of vechicles speeding in the left lane, with total lack of a safe driving, most are speeding and tailgating at the same time. Last time I saw this it must have been over 20 vechicles or more driving this way.
Unlike red light cameras
Unlike the red light camera scam, aircraft monitoring is a proven and very effective method. A couple people in an airplane can keep an eye on conditions over a huge area that would take a fleet of cars. If there's a big wreck, the aircraft will spot it immediately and call out help. I guess it's more proof its about the cash and not the safety.
Not so
If that was true, more states would use aircraft. Believe it or not, the state patrol DOES have a budget they have to work with. When they can have ten more cars on the road verses just one airplane, vehicles that aren't affected by weather, have problems seeing around terrain or foliage, it only makes sense that ground patrol gives a better bang for your buck.
And how much of a difference is there between getting a ticket in the mail from a red light camera operation verses getting one from a plane flying 300 feet overhead? They can't stop you and see whether or not it is you driving or someone else. Aircraft were supposed to be a force multiplier just like the red light cameras are, but they're just not cost effective.
They all do
Everyone does use aircraft. Police choppers are pretty much standard equipment for cities. The airplane is a lot cheaper to run than those choppers. Just like the say in the article, the airplane directs ground units and doesn't just issue ticket you get in the mail.
Big difference here
You're comparing apples to oranges now: the article deals with highway traffic laws enforced by the State Patrol, not city enforcement. Big difference there. Also, helicopters, by law, can go lower, much lower than airplanes and they are much more expensive to operate than fixed wing aircraft. For state patrol organizations in nearly every state, operating aircraft for highway patrolling isn't cost effective. If you have to first SEE them with a plane THEN use a patrol car to stop them, then you're doubling up on efforts. In cities and urban areas, it makes perfectly good sense and it is financially viable. When you're talking about the miles and miles of freeways and two lane highways, using the same methods aren't. Two different animals altogether.
Expensive way to write tickets
Aircraft never have been a cost effective way for police to control traffic. It is much cheaper for them to do it from the ground than from the air. When you look across the country, state after state have tried using aircraft to patrol for speeders, and time and again they've dropped the program because it wasn't as cost effective as having a few more patrol cars out there. With the cost for av gas continuing to go up, the situation only gets worse. It should be no surprise that this is happening.
Silly Lines
From day one, I knew to slow down, when crossing those lines in the road. Law enforcement needs to lead by example. I watched a Hampton cop make a left turn on red across 4 lanes of traffic against the light. He had on no lights or siren. I've seen cops speeding, running lights, yapping on cell phones, making improper lane changes and tailgating. so much for being good examples.
Citing cost, Virginia ends aerial speed patrols
Thank God. Now take the Red Light Cameras with you.
to the inconsiderate "flneblit"
Didn't we just deal with a fatal accident where a lady (who amazingly was never identified) ran a red light and killed a man's wife and 4 y/o daughter? Maybe when a red light runner kills part of, or your entire family will you realize how well those cameras work. Your identity should be made public for making such a ridiculous statement. Why is it people like yourself are so against red light cameras? Do you run lights THAT OFTEN that you are concerned with getting caught by one????
I wonder why the violator (57 year old lady in the Scion TC) in the recent double fatal acciddent in VB was never identified by the media?? They certainly gave us the victim's life history!!