A woman is going viral on TikTok after brushing off a “speed enforced by aircraft” sign, only to end up with a ticket.
Saige Playton (@notpaigeslayton_) posted a video recounting how she came across the sign while driving and laughed it off.
“Speed limit enforced by aircraft?” she said, skeptically. “Pfft. Yeah.”
Turns out, they were serious.
In the next clip, she flips through mail and appears to reveal a speeding ticket. “I didn’t believe it but I guess they were serious,” she wrote in the caption.
As of this writing, her video has racked up more than 2.2 million views.
What Does It Mean?
If you spot a “Speed Limit Enforced by Aircraft” sign while driving, don’t panic. It simply means law enforcement is using aircraft to monitor vehicle speeds in that area, and if you’re speeding, you could get a ticket.
Here’s how it works: From the air, officers track how long it takes a vehicle to travel between two marked points on the road. They might use a stopwatch, a Doppler radar, or a tool called VASCAR (visual average speed computer and recorder), which calculates average speed using a camera and onboard computer.
Once a speeding vehicle is identified, the aircraft crew radios the details—like location and car description—to officers on the ground, who then pull the driver over and issue a citation.
The method isn’t new. In areas where patrol cars might be too visible or limited, aircraft offer a stealthier way for law enforcement to keep tabs on speeding drivers.
These Are Exceedingly Rare
Aircraft-issued speeding tickets are pretty uncommon. According to legal advice site Nolo, part of the reason is simple: It’s expensive to run.
Additionally, the system is not foolproof.
For one, the speed calculation depends on precise timing from the air. If the officer in the aircraft doesn’t time a vehicle’s travel correctly, the resulting speed estimate will be off. The shorter the distance being measured, the more even a small timing error can skew the final number.
There’s a third issue, too—identifying the correct vehicle. From the sky, reading license plates is nearly impossible, and many modern cars look similar. Aircraft officers often report multiple speeders at once, increasing the chance that ground patrols might mix them up and pull over the wrong driver.
Drivers Claim They’ve Been Unfairly Targeted
Playton isn’t the only one who’s been ticketed by an officer in the sky.
In the r/legaladvice subreddit, one Redditor said they were cited for going 83 mph in a 65 zone—but claimed they never topped 71. The ticket, they wrote, was issued with “airplane aid” and would cost over $250 after fees.
“An airplane flying overhead measures your vehicle’s time from one distance to another… and monitors you until an officer on the ground pulls you over,” the Redditor explained. “It seems like a ridiculous way to cite someone that is open to human error.”
Commenters weren’t optimistic. One pointed out that while the system isn’t flawless, courts usually uphold it.
“There’s room for error… but not really on the minutes-to-seconds scale,” one person wrote. “If the average speed is above the limit, then you must necessarily have been going above the limit somewhere. It’s the fundamental way in which these tickets are enforced.”
Viewers Are Equally Amazed and Confused
Commenters on Playton’s video were a mix of impressed and bewildered, especially since she didn’t reveal how much the ticket was. Some were shocked the enforcement method was real at all, even though Playton noted she lives in Virginia, where it’s still used.
“You’re the first person I’ve heard of that actually got a ticket from that,” one TikTok user wrote.
“I thought those were a fear tactic,” another added.
“That’s real?! I never believed those signs,” said a third.
Others criticized the practice as outdated and wasteful.
“Wasting our tax dollars to fly a silly plane to catch me doing 200 in a 30 is crazy,” one viewer joked. “They’ve got their priorities mixed up fr.”
“They got money and resources to sit in a helicopter to watch cars for speeding but not to look for kidnapped children, women, and indigenous folks,” another said. “I see the priorities.”
“They spent more money giving you this ticket that way, btw,” someone else added.
And some urged Playton to fight the citation.
“You have the right to face your accuser in court,” one commenter wrote. “Tell them I wanna see the pilot and ask them when’s the last time they had their equipment calibrated.”
“Girl, make sure you go to court,” another advised. “Both pilot and officer gotta be there otherwise [the] case gets dismissed.”
Motor1 has reached out to Playton via a TikTok direct message.
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