States Scale Back Aircraft for Catching Speeders

New York is one of several states to scale back the use of aircraft for traffic enforcement in recent years because of budget cuts or concerns about cost-effectiveness, reports the Associated Press via MSNBC.

Typically, aerial enforcement programs involve a plane, a pilot, a spotter to time vehicles as they travel between lines painted on the road and several cruisers to pull people over and issue tickets.

"That ain't cheap," Sgt. Kern Swoboda, a state police spokesman, told the Associated Press. He added that updated laser technology now allows a trooper on the ground to get speed readings over long distances and in heavy traffic—two situations where aircraft used to be superior.

Read the full Associated Press story.