A few questions about I-66

[saganista]

Then there are the old inflatable-doll and mannequin tricks. Those don't work either, nor does being really, really pregnant. But if you have an actual baby in a car-seat and get pulled over, all you'll get is an apology...and a wave from the officer the next day. I'm not sure whether a dead body would count, actually. Then again, if you got pulled over with a dead body in your car, an HOV ticket might be the least of your worries...

[Love2LiveNCities]

Originally Posted by movingsoon2007

I just moved to Falls Church and have a few questions about I-66. I noticed that during rush hour, I-66 inside 495 is all-lanes HOV. Am I correct that this only extends to 495? Someone told me it was further than that, but the signs seem to indicate that I-66 is only all-HOV to 495.

Also, I noticed the "speed enforced by aircraft" signs. Is this really true? I didn't see a single aircraft of any kind on my many times on I-66, but I did see a few cop cars. Anyone have experience with these "aircrafts"?

speed inforced by aircraft just means you hit certain censors from one point to the other, it sends to a system, and is alerted to the next patrol unit to watch for an up coming speeder. Also on occasions it can be spotted if it is drastic but Helicopter

[Tish Thompson]

I don't think you have to worry about speed enforcement by aircraft in VA. I have actually seen the helicopters in MD. I haven't seen it recently, but a year or two ago, I saw two of them. They fly relatively close to traffic and stay with the speeder until a nearby trooper can come in and pull the offender over.

[Adrian71]

Those aircraft signs are a joke. They're just a way to try to exert some control over an uncontrollable situation on the highways.

I mean, out on the Beltway, there's a sign that says "Aggressive Driver Imaging in Use." I usually see this just as someone is whipping by me doing 85 in the far left lane.

[jwsocci]

There are no instances where a helicopter is used, or the tenth-mile markers are used to measure the speed of a vehicle.

Air patrol is done with a single engine Cesna aircraft flying at high altitudes so it is hard for motorists to spot. The Cesna is used because is allows the pilot to see the ground below him easier than with other aircraft types, and it is also much cheaper than flying a helicopter.

The officer circles the highway while observing traffic (wide circles). The officer looks for vehicles traveling faster than the surrounding traffic. The officer has a stop watch or other timing device to measure the time it takes for the vehicle to travel a quarter mile to calculate the m.p.h. The officer's watch can track 2-4 vehicles at a time.

The road has 1-foot wide lines painted across the lanes that are a quarter mile apart. Most monitoring areas have 2 or 3 consecutive quarter mile zones. The officer cannot determine what kind of vehicle it is, and sometimes cannot tell the color, but he doesnt need to. Once he determines the vehicle is speeding, he does not take his eyes off the vehicle until he confirms with the ground unit. After confirmation, he returns to timing other vehicles.

The ground units are waiting in the 'staging area' usually a mile after the quarter-mile speed zone.

The air patrol is usually done on a random basis, as resources permit. Some states perform it regularly. It is difficult to spot the airplane unless it is directly over the road. I recommend slowing down to the prevailing speed when you see white stripes across the road. You never know when the airplane is up there. It costs less than 100 dollars per hour to fly a Cesna. If they nail a few people going 15-20 over the limit, they already made money.

If you are lucky day, you will get away with driving through the air patrol team if (1) the officer is not timing cars because he is visually tracking a speeding vehicle to the ground unit (sequencing is the term), or (2) the staging area is empty (ie, all the ground units are writing tickets) so there is no ground unit available to pursue the vehicle.

[dottieG]

jwsocci is quite right. I've seen state troopers out on 66 pulling cars over for no apparent reason. They'll just stop traffic and tell specifc cars to pull over. There are always those that get through at ridiculous speeds, but not everyone.

[Harris68]

Yes, the helicopters became obsolete with the rise of gas prices. There was a story on it I believe 20/20 years back (8 yrs or more). Look for the solid Horizontal line that goes across all lanes, and then maybe quarter to a half mile more look for another solid white 'Finish line'. I don't think they use this method anymore, as I don't see the lines. But I have seen helicopters from time to time monitoring traffic, more for aggressive drivers weaving in and out of traffic, or just news helicopters.. They don’t fly immediately over you so it is hard to tell.