Police in Delta are using a new tool to help address street racing — an issue concerned residents have raised with police on a number of occasions.
Recently, the Delta Police Department’s Traffic Section put up a drone to help spot street racing taking place on Tsawwassen First Nation lands and in the area of Highway 17.
“The drone allows our officers to have fantastic visibility over a wide area, as well as zoom in on offenders’ licence plates,” Acting Sgt. Grayson Smith, head of the DPD’s Traffic Section, said in a press release. “Instead of trying to pull over these drivers going at high speeds, the drone operator follows them, and officers who are strategically placed can make these stops when safe to do so.”
During the enforcement effort on Aug. 26, police impounded one vehicle travelling at 157 km/h in an 80 km/h zone. The driver was served a ticket for excessive speed and the vehicle was impounded for seven days.
Excessive speeding tickets have a cost that goes well beyond the $368 to 483 fine. In addition to impound and tow fees, this ticket adds three points to someone’s driving record, and a driver risk premium is added to their insurance costs.
In addition to issuing speeding tickets, police also conducted a number of inspections of vehicles, towing another vehicle for being mechanically unfit due to modifications made for street racing.
“Using the drone in this manner was definitely productive. We’ll be making use of it for future enforcement initiatives of this nature,” Smith said. “We wanted to release this footage to put a certain type of driver on notice: your reckless driving won’t be tolerated.”
SEE ALSO: Delta police launch drone program (Sept. 30, 2020)
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