Police to track speeders by plane
The StarPhoenixNovember 10, 2009
City police have armed themselves with a new tool for catching Saskatoon's most foolish aggressive drivers.
Yellow "hash marks" have been painted at 500-metre intervals on several city streets where police say speeding and stunting have gotten out of hand -- including Circle Drive, 22nd Street West and Eighth Street East.
The marks will allow officers in the police air support unit -- a light plane known as the EAGLE -- to calculate a vehicle's speed from up in the sky.
Starting this month, signs will be posted in these areas to warn motorists the roadways are patrolled by aircraft, says a news release issued Monday by police.
The last few years have seen an increase in both the number and severity of collisions in Saskatoon, partly due to speeding, stunting and carelessness, the release says.
"Annually, aggressive driving contributed to 255 collisions, 58 injuries and one death, at a cost of $8 million," police said.
Other cities that have added aerial enforcement to their traditional methods of policing have reported significant reductions in the number of collisions in targeted areas, police said.
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