TORONTO - Ontario Provincial Police now have another pair of eyes in the sky to help crack down on dangerous drivers on the province's highways.
Premier Dalton McGuinty unveiled a new OPP plane Monday that's equipped with high-tech surveillance equipment to watch roads from overhead.
The Cessna 206, along with staffing and startup costs, came with a $1.4-million price tag.
The OPP had planes watching motorists from the skies between 1965 and 1981, but the program was discontinued for a number of reasons, including cost.
The force has been conducting air surveillance on roads in the Greater Toronto Area with a rented plane since the end of August.
McGuinty said the plane, which can monitor hundreds of cars at a time, will help police catch more offenders with fewer officers.
"We've all seen how dangerous drivers hit the brakes when they see a police vehicle,'' McGuinty said.
"They won't get away with that when this plane is on patrol. By the time they see the cruiser, they've already been caught.''
Ontario drivers caught speeding 50 kilometres per hour or more over the limit can lose their licences for seven days and have their vehicles seized.
Since the law came into effect last fall, more than 4,681 drivers have been handed suspensions and had their vehicles taken away, said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino.
If he had to do it all over again, Fantino said he would have asked the province to toughen the law and penalize those driving 30 km/h over the speed limit.
"It seems that some people just don't get it,'' said Fantino, who has pushed for an OPP plane since visiting Ohio last summer to see how aircraft are used to catch dangerous drivers.
"I travel the highways of Ontario daily, and I continue to be amazed, if not astounded, at the number of motorists that, despite the warning signs along the highway and extensive media attention, continue to drive 50 km/h over the speed limit and then some.''
But McGuinty isn't eager to toughen up Ontario's speed racing law.
"It seems to me that we've had that law in effect for a relatively short period of time,'' he said. "My preference is, let's just give it more time.''
The new plane won't solve all of the OPP's problems, but it will enable officers to be far more effective in enforcing the law, Fantino said.
The Ministry of Transportation has already identified problem areas such as Highway 400 between highways 88 and 89, as well as Highway 69 between Parry Sound and Sudbury, he said.
The province approved $2 million last August to fund the new plane. But given the large operating costs, it's questionable whether buying an OPP plane is the best use of taxpayers' money, said NDP critic Peter Kormos.
Motorists would prefer to see more cops on the road, not planes in the sky, he said.
"Clearly, it was Christmas for Julian Fantino,'' he said. "He wanted a plane, he got a plane.''
