Speed monitored by aircraft was done in Wyoming forty years ago, I don't know where or when it was first done with any consistency.
Order of Kilopi
Speed monitored by aircraft was done in Wyoming forty years ago, I don't know where or when it was first done with any consistency.
Established Member
You bet, in 1982. Back then, when you were driving down the roads in Kansas you could see nice little airplane insignias in the middle of the road and I never really gave much thought to them. Of course they were a mile apart and if you did that under 55 seconds and were observed in the air, you my friend were in trouble.Originally Posted by Peter Wilson
The signs are everywhere...at least in Kalif...but has anyone actually been ticketed for speeding by an aircraft?
Just curious
Cruise control is the only thing protecting me from my foot.
Order of Kilopi
I did, once, sort of. Many years ago, we were going through the Mojave desert in a van with the air conditioner going full blast, making the interior temperature barely tolerable. There were "Speed limit enforced by radar" signs and at the time the speed limit was 55 mph. We wanted to get home where it was much cooler, the straight freeway and flat desert was absolutely empty but for us, and we were going over 90. We had kept an eye out for police cars . . . only to have a shadow coming over us, soon followed by a CHP helicopter.Ticketed? I was figuring you'd get strafed!
No ticket, but we did slow down.
In fairness, it would have been a horrible place to have an accident or a problem with overheating.
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?
The Leif Ericson Cruiser
Established Member
Hmm -- only 4% error at 60 mph. Is radar any better?
Administrator
I have heard and read (local paper had a story about this once), that radar are guns are typically no better than +/- 5 mph (or at least the cops don't trust them to be any more accurate). I don't know the details (is this a fixed error or linear with value), but at 60 mph, that works out to 8%.
Order of Kilopi
Eh, that's about right. A lot more has to do with operator error than the radar itself. Lasers much more accurate, but less versitile; atmospheric conditions can become more of a problem. also laser can't be used while moving whereas radar can.
Air enforcement is fairly accurate, as long as the lines or whatever landmarks are being used are properly spaced. usually if ur air enforcing, you're going for the speeders that are well over the limit anyway. doesn't matter if you were going 85 or only 78, if the speed limits only 65 or 55 :-P
edit: ha! i can't believe i actually used the "word" 'ur' . Too many online games for me i guess.
Order of Kilopi
Radar guns use Doppler effect, don't they? Doesn't the radar gun being in motion affect that?
Order of Kilopi
Yes but they are built to correct for it.
Vulcan Administrator
Appropriate article in the Washington Post today (registration required but free):
That Eye in the Sky? It Sees You Speeding
As Congestion Worsens, Virginia Police Are Expanding Aerial Enforcement to Help Curb Aggressive Drivers
To a state trooper on the side of the road, the gray minivan would be a blur mixed in with the rest of rushing traffic. But from 1,500 feet above Interstate 95, the speeding van immediately stands out, tailgating, weaving from lane to lane, blowing by everyone else.
As the van crosses a white horizontal line painted on the highway, a state trooper in an airplane circling above flips a switch on a timer. When the van crosses a second line a quarter-mile away, he flips it again. The van's speed: 91.4 mph. Its position is radioed to police on the ground, who pull the van over.
"That's the kind of guy you're cussing out and asking why the cops aren't catching him," Sgt. Michael J. Clark, a Virginia State Police pilot, said during a recent mission. "Well, we're here."
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Order of Kilopi
Why would you say (or type) "ur" during an online game?
Order of Kilopi
My turn off-topic, just because the experience was so memorable. There was a grass fire about a mile from our house, and this bright yellow C-130 firefighting aircraft made several very low, full throttle, very steep (wings perpendicular to ground) passes right over our farm. It was so large, and so low, and so loud, and with it standing on one wing - it just gave us all goosebumps watching it. And I mean close; close enough that your instinct was to get out of the way.
Order of Kilopi
coz if ur typing teh hole wurd u get tr34t3d like the n00bxors
I would like to apologize for that.
Seriously though, Multiplayer online games have chat windows filled with that junk. The Supergroup I'm in on City of Heroes actually has a group policy against doing it in the SG chat channels.
I'm Not Evil.
An evil person would do the things that pop into my head.
Order of Kilopi
My dad was working in Missouri on a freeway a few years back. One night they set up the concretre batch plant which stood about 90 feet high. The next afternoon two B-1s took evasive action because of it. After that they moved a bit further east.
We've had a few C-130s flying around the house here (AF base next door) and they are wicked loud. They also seem to always look closer than they really are. I'm getting to where I can tell an A-10 by the sound though. There is this high pitched whistle that comes off of them.
I'm Not Evil.
An evil person would do the things that pop into my head.
Order of Kilopi
Because you have to use words like that to let "n00bs" know that you will "p0wn" them with your "l33t 5k1lls". hehe, sorry. Like Tog_, i too could not resist. And no I don't talk like *that* even in online gaming.
But I do tend to use substitutions such as "ur" whenever possible simply because in order to type you tend to have to stop moving. And in most of the games I play online, the more time you're sitting still typing, the higher the chance you will get, a-hem, "p0wned". So by shortening words you save precious seconds of typing time. And to avoid further conversation on this off-topic topic, I type 70-80 words per minute. But when you are gaming, you're hands are not on "home row" so that adds to the delay.
Administrator
I was driving somewhere in the desert in California many years ago, along a very straight stretch of road, when an F-14 came by from behind us, over flew us by maybe 150 feet, and continued on down the road. He was definitely sub-sonic, but it also did a good job of rattling the windows.
Order of Kilopi
Did you try to keep up with him?
Established Member
I'm just saying, it seems like an awfully expensive way to catch speeders...especially the F-14s.
Of course, they're using our money
Last edited by Peter Wilson; 2007-Jan-04 at 09:59 PM.
Order of Kilopi
That depends on perspective I suppose. Take the cost of hiring enough patrolmen to enforce traffic in the same effective area to the same efficiancy and you'll see it start to even out.I'm just saying, it seems like an awfully expensive way to catch speeders...
Of course, they're using our money
With one air unit, they can flag as many speeders as needed with just two ground units. One to flag over offenders the other to issue the citations. Similar to a DUI checkpoint or Vehicle Inspection checkpoint.
With conventional tactics, you can only pull over one offender per unit at a time. For example, if there's 5 speeders you'd need 5(give or take) units to do the same job. at about $17/hr per patrolman, plus a ~$150000 (educated guesstimate) per cruiser (obviously aside from gas and maitnence a one time expense). Not to mention you still have to have all the other officers to respond to calls/emergencies/etc. That's very costly.
Order of Kilopi
They'd only need four if they would just leave me alone. I'm a good driver.
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