The Ohio State Highway Patrol has seen a steady increase in traffic fatalities over the last few years.
This is why they are stepping out of the box to find new ways to keep drivers safe, and one of they ways they are doing this is through air patrol.
Using a plane equipped with a camera, mapping system, GPS and a vehicle speed measurement system, OSHP is able to monitor new areas from the sky, explained S/Lt. Justin Cromer, the aviation commander.
“As the camera moves, the latitude and longitude continually changes, and that latitude and longitude is what the system is using to reference the points A and points B,” Cromer said.
From the air, officers are able to see several miles away.
“The pilot is maintaining an orbit over a certain area, the area that we are focused on, and the pilot is looking for erratic driving behavior,” he explained. “The TFO [tactical flight officer] is also doing the same thing, moving the camera in and out, checking for high speeds, unsafe lane changes, aggressive driving, passing on the berm, things of that nature.”
The officers in the sky are able to communicate with ground units to let them know which cars are being unsafe.
“You can identify [a vehicle] from here easily,” he said “[You can see] the make the model and description of the vehicle, you are looking for a red chevy impala, it’s going by the exit prior to you right now, it’s going to be out in the left lane.”
This system will not replace marked zones that officers currently use to detect speed from the sky, but it will be used in addition to it.
“In traditional air speed zones, we can only operate in areas that are marked,” he explained “This system allows us to take that traffic enforcement out of those areas and work it anywhere, on any road, in the state of Ohio.”
Currently, this technology is only being used in Fairfield County, but officials plan to expand to ten other Ohio counties by the end of the year.
“For the average citizen, this is going to mean safer roadways because we are able to bring this innovation to their areas,” he said. “That’s our goal, to reduce fatal crashes, and we do that by focusing on aggressive drivers.”
Officials expect to roll this system out statewide within the next few years.
