Drivers Beware: Chicago Police Are Using New Helicopter Technology To Crack Down On This Dangerous Highway Habit

There isn't a person alive who hasn't changed their behavior when a cop is around. Kids do the same thing around parents, hoping not to get caught in some kind of mischief. And when driving along highways, coasting along at 70, 75, or 80 miles per hour or more, lots of roadway mischief can happen. Folks get enraged at traffic, cut back and forth between lanes to eke forward about 10 feet, and sometimes even drive along a road's shoulder to pass someone. Drivers in Chicago's Cook County, Illinois, however ... beware. Cops no longer only hide in bushes along the side of highways, hoping to catch traffic-violating ne'er-do-wells. Now, they prowl the very skies above, scoping out the roads via helicopters. And they really — really, really — want to find folks who drive along shoulders.  

As the Cook County Sheriff's Office posted on X, these Chicago-area police have taken to helicopters to keep an eagle-eyed watch on drivers. And make no mistake: They're having fun, too. They set their helicopter-captured compilation video of traffic offenders to the theme song for the incredibly long-running TV show, "Cops." And yep, they're gonna come for you — you shoulder drivers, that is. 

As Cook County Undersheriff Marlon Parks says in another X post, they're also going to come for speeders, folks who drive under the influence, folks who stare at their phones and text while driving, and basically anyone else who's violating traffic laws and putting themselves and others at risk. And whatcha gonna do when they come for you? Not much, except lose $1,000 when you pay your fine.

The Cook County police's crackdown on drivers who pass on the shoulder isn't just matter of sitting in a helicopter and staring at cars on highways. There's some kind of distance-measuring video overlay that features red and blue arrows extending from a targeted car. This distance-measuring overlay, when combined with a miles-per-hour gauge, shows precisely the speed at which a driver is traveling when passing another car, and at what distance to that car and/or the shoulder. And lo and behold, this helicopter method was responsible for locating 49 out of 100 traffic offenders in a matter of hours.

And what does this all mean for drivers? At the very least, it means that there's less of a chance for drivers in the Chicago area to get away with dangerous things that they shouldn't be doing anyway. Whether you're headed out from Chicago on some epic road adventure to travel along the historic Lincoln Highway that extends to Nebraska or sticking far closer to home to see Wilmington's fiberglass Gemini Giant statue near the old Route 66, any drivers ought to watch out. 

Even if you're just headed along a 45-minute drive up I-90 past O'Hare Airport to visit one of Chicago's most underrated and family-friendly suburbs, Mount Prospect, you ought to take care. If you get impatient enough to pass someone on the shoulder, bad boys, the cops are gonna come for you. Best take a deep breath, chill out, and keep your $1,000. It just isn't worth the financial loss and roadway peril to save a few minutes.