Virginia will reduce aerial speed limit enforcement

Due to high overhead costs, Virginia State Police have decided to reduce a program approved in 2000 in which troopers in Cessna 182 airplanes patrolled highways enforcing speed limits. Relatively few tickets were issued as a result of aerial patrols, and at a cost of about $150 per hour, the program has become too expensive to maintain. Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, cites state and federal budget cuts and a lack of troopers qualified to run aerial missions.