Eye-in-the-sky to keep flying

Press, 9 January 1986, Page 4

Eye-in-the-sky to keep flying

Aerial speed surveillance ; of motorists will continue in i spite of some initial “hie- 1 cups.” The chief traffic superin- i tendent, Mr lan Coddington, ; said that though problems had occurred with air to i ground communications, 1 availability of aircraft and i pilots, and weather, the < “eye-in-the-sky” would still ] be used periodically. Aerial surveillance was ’ just another Ministry of I Transport enforcement strategy, he said. I “In a sense, we tested i whether it was a practical : method of doing traffic sur- i veillance work.” j He said that though it was very difficult to gauge ] the method’s success, it had < seemed to work well over I holidays. ? ( air Coddington said the ' 1 1

aircraft may also be used more widely to survey traffic jams and accidents. About 30 drivers had been issued tickets after flights around Christchurch. A chief traffic officer, Mr Garth Hames, said publicity for the “eye-in-the-sky” had made motorists more aware of the Ministry of Transport’s new strategy. Mr Hames said the surveillance flights would continue this week-end. He also said he believed the Ministry of Works had replaced the reflectorised strips, used to time motorists’ speed between two points. The strips had been repainted on to the road after complaints that the reflectorised strips startled drivers, and because some had been stolen.