“141 On The 401 @ Napanee - Airplane!!! :(”

Was flagged over by a motorcycle police officer as he came onto the highway. Told me that apparently the Airplane measured me at 141 in a 100 zone. Told me that usually they clock between interchanges and radioed ahead requesting a red car be pulled over. Also told me that there wasn't anything he could do because he was just the ticketing officer, not the charging officer so he had to write the ticket for what the airplane told him to.

Ticket looks good, writen 141 in 100 at correct location, and correct vehicle information. Only thing I see may be an issue (haven't found any info on it yet) is that the section is just sited as 128 with no subsection. I can't be sure that this is a fatal flaw but since I'll be fighting it I suppose they'll figure it out.

On to my question: What are my best options for defending against a charge laid by an airplane? I'm currently researching it but haven't found much. Seems kinda unfair considering I wasn't told where I was dinged and that the only information they had was that my car was 'red'. There were lots of speeding red cars!

Thanks for any advice in advance! I always thought that those air planes were just a scare tactic.

atr911 wrote:section is just sited as 128 with no subsection.

section is correct, there is no subsection

atr911 wrote: Seems kinda unfair considering I wasn't told where I was dinged and that the only information they had was that my car was 'red'. There were lots of speeding red cars!

There are markings on the highway prior to where the officers sit/wait on the next interchange. The speed is obtained during those markings on a vehicle. The vehicle is then followed/watched the entire time (by observer in the plane) until the intercepting officer (this case officer was on motorcycle) comes onto the highway, catches the vehicle. The observer confirms with the intercepting officer that is the correct vehicle prior to stopping it, the time of the offence and speed is also communicated.

Apparently they clocked over 4 different spans. They use a stop watch that calculates speeds based on predetermined distances. Wouldn't there be considered too much potential for human error starting and stopping the watch to hold up in court? A fraction of a second can change the speed quite a bit.

Any successful defences agains these tickets?

Unfortunately the airplane tickets are very hard to fight. There have been some success cases but they are few and far between.