Being caught by an Airplane?

[Stinger2007]

As the title states, I supposedly was caught by an airplane. Problem is, my detector never went off.

So, is this bogus? How accurate can someone in a plane hundreds of feet above me, (while moving) pace me, and come to an accurate number?

I really feel as though this ticket is questionable. :shrug:

 

[SNCBOOM]

Sometimes I see the signs while driving in SC. If you notice [at least I have] there are large white lines that run the width of the road. I'm sure the lines are a certain distance apart and they consider how fast you pass between the two lines to calculate your speed. :shrug:

 

[Stinger2007]

Very, very interesting.

Thanks.

You'd think that they would be more buisy raiding a meth-lab, or hunting down serious criminals.

just like insurance, tickets must be big revenue makers. <------ anyone agreeing with that will be subjected to fraud\racketeering charges.

 

[FordSVTFan]

Very, very interesting.

Thanks.

You'd think that they would be more buisy raiding a meth-lab, or hunting down serious criminals.

just like insurance, tickets must be big revenue makers. <------ anyone agreeing with that will be subjected to fraud\racketeering charges.

Idiots who run meth labs and serious criminal drive cars all the time. They get caught this way as do many serious criminals who have warrants.

If the ticket didnt say radar, than it wasnt radar.

 

[twhitey]

They use airplanes in FL and seem to be pretty accurate. Might as well pay up. Either pay your ticket or try an a lawyer.

 

[WVFord]

How about timing vehicles between the white lines to determine speed? Catching speeders on the roadways is part of their job.

 

[Digital]

As the title states, I supposedly was caught by an airplane. Problem is, my detector never went off.

So, is this bogus? How accurate can someone in a plane hundreds of feet above me, (while moving) pace me, and come to an accurate number?

I really feel as though this ticket is questionable. :shrug:

I am by no means an expert but I consider myself informed on this to the extent that I feel I should comment.

I've read various articles on the practice of using a fixed winged aircraft to catch speeders.
Normally how it works is they have a plane fly a set stretch of road with markers, either mile markers, lines, over passes, signs, etc that they know the distance between, then they clock you with a hand held stop watch between the points, factor in a little math, and they know your approx speed.

The problem with this is if they use set points that are too close and arent exact with their timing they could easily be off by 5+ mph, which could be the difference between getting a ticket or not, or even a higher priced ticket.

This system is very close to vascar as the officer takes a educated guess of your speed, granted from my understanding an officer has to be certified and correctly come very close to judging a objects speed consistantly to pass the cert but I have my doubts on how consistant one can be when not in a perfect testing condition.
I believe like many tools used in law enforcement they had good motives at first but ended up being a loop hole to exploit by the officer.

Back on topic though from what I've read it's extremely hard for a plane to see your plate so what ends up happening is a officer further down the road is radioed with the make, model, color, etc of your car and they then pull you over and issue the ticket.
This brings another subject thats up to debate. While you may be the only one in that remote area at the time driving a screaming yellow mustang what happens when there is 2? How do you prove that was the car without getting the plate?
On a busy highway this can lead to questionable tickets.


Now I'm not taking shots at anyone or saying all cops are out to lie and cheat or anything like that, we all know a few rotten apples ruins the bunch, but for the most part cops are just doing their job like everyone else.
What I am saying is from a defense point of view you have a lot to object to get out of a ticket based upon the criteria.

 

[carnut101]

Normally how it works is they have a plane fly a set stretch of road with markers, either mile markers, lines, over passes, signs, etc that they know the distance between, then they clock you with a hand held stop watch between the points, factor in a little math, and they know your approx speed.

That's exactly what I've heard from somewhat reliable sources.

But what happens when you show up to court to fight your ticket with these little gems from the California Vehicle Code:

Speed Traps

40802. (a) A "speed trap" is either of the following:

(1) A particular section of a highway measured as to distance and with boundaries marked, designated, or otherwise determined in order that the speed of a vehicle may be calculated by securing the time it takes the vehicle to travel the known distance.

...

Speed Trap Prohibition

40801. No peace officer or other person shall use a speed trap in arresting, or participating or assisting in the arrest of, any person for any alleged violation of this code nor shall any speed trap be used in securing evidence as to the speed of any vehicle for the purpose of an arrest or prosecution under this code.

Speed Trap Evidence

40803. (a) No evidence as to the speed of a vehicle upon a highway shall be admitted in any court upon the trial of any person in any prosecution under this code upon a charge involving the speed of a vehicle when the evidence is based upon or obtained from or by the maintenance or use of a speedtrap.

I know that California still uses aircraft to write speeding tickets. It seems like they are really shooting themselves in the foot with the above quoted sections of the Vehicle Code. Makes me wonder how many other states have similar sections, and if the method mentioned by Digital is how they actually estimate your speed.

 

[Stinger2007]

I really appreciate all your responses, I have already made arrangements to pay for the ticket. Truth be known, I have a fairly good record, and really don't speed often if at all, that day I was, and recieved a ticket.

I honostly feel that my tax dollers could be better spent, that's too bad.

Again, thanks for the comments.

 

[VirtualSVT]

They also use helicopters. Its a very old way of doing it.

 

[Ralph50]

I was doing 83 in a 65 with about 4 other cars. I guess it is one of those instances where you "go with the flow."

We all got stopped and received tickets.

They calculated our speed by timing us from a helicopter using the white lines painted on the freeway.

It was early morning and we were the only cars on the road.

 

[Stinger2007]

That's exactly what happened....

I was doing 83 in a 65 with about 4 other cars. I guess it is one of those instances where you "go with the flow."

We all got stopped and received tickets.

They calculated our speed by timing us from a helicopter using the white lines painted on the freeway.

It was early morning and we were the only cars on the road.

:lol:, Wow! was that you in the silver mustang GT?

We all got pulled over.

 

[Ralph50]

,

Wow! was that you in the silver mustang GT?

We all got pulled over.

Close. It was a silver Lightning. LOL

 

[RedRocketMike]

ah Vascar. It's not as reliable as radar, if you fight the ticket theres a fair chance they will agree on a lower speed with you.

 

[txyaloo]

Back on topic though from what I've read it's extremely hard for a plane to see your plate so what ends up happening is a officer further down the road is radioed with the make, model, color, etc of your car and they then pull you over and issue the ticket.
This brings another subject thats up to debate. While you may be the only one in that remote area at the time driving a screaming yellow mustang what happens when there is 2? How do you prove that was the car without getting the plate?
On a busy highway this can lead to questionable tickets.

While it may be hard to see a plate from the air, it isn't hard to spot a specific vehicle and keep watching it until a unit on the ground pulls the vehicle over. I'm not sure how that leads to any questionable tickets.

 

[Digital]

While it may be hard to see a plate from the air, it isn't hard to spot a specific vehicle and keep watching it until a unit on the ground pulls the vehicle over. I'm not sure how that leads to any questionable tickets.

From what I read it seems that the aircraft they use cruise at 100-120mph. If they spot a speeder at the beginning of their "route" they may not be able to keep constant visual on them before the speeder reaches the ground units.
Also 1 pass for 1 speeder isnt exactly cost effective if you have the oppertunity to catch more then 1.

I know in other countrys they have a camera that takes pictures of cars as they pass it (plates) and they can mail you tickets while using a aircraft to detect speed and mark the approx time the car passed the camera and then go through the photos later. Now that's dirty.
Course we have the same system but it's in the form of highway speed cameras and "radar vans". Equally not cool =(

 

[RedRocketMike]

where I live when the do it with a plane on Rt 1 the plane does not stay with the car. Infact where they have the lines there is an exit not too far away and the police are waiting a good distance after the exit. Someone I know was tagged by the plane, along with several other cars. The officer said he was caught at 25 over and he stated that he just got on the highway. They let him go.

 

[sideways03]

Even if a plane was able to get your plate and do a "speed estimation", don't they need to prove that it was YOU driving the car?

 

[carnut101]

You get pulled over by an actual police car...

 

[Stinger2007]

yether!

You get pulled over by an actual police car...

yepper! there were actually like 3-4 squat cars, each with someone pulled over.

its fine *edited by moderator*