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Subaru BRZ driver clocks up equivalent of $10,000 in fines after being chased by police helicopter

A driver of a Subaru BRZ thought he went undetected while speeding across Sydney late at night, but then a police helicopter on routine patrol spotted the erratic driving.


A 23-year-old Sydney driver of a Subaru BRZ sports car has clocked up the equivalent of more than $10,000 in speeding fines in one night after being spotted driving erratically by a police helicopter.

NSW Police have released details about how one of its helicopters on routine patrol tracked the Subaru BRZ speeding for 11 minutes through suburbs in western Sydney late at night last week.

The Subaru BRZ’s “excessive speed” was apparent to police helicopter observers who had a bird’s eye view of the car overtaking other traffic at a rapid rate.

Vision taken by police with heat-sensing camera technology (shown above and below) highlights the temperature coming from the brakes and tyres. The driver also appears to be raising a sweat, too.

The vehicle was followed as the police helicopter notified Highway Patrol officers on the ground, who then intercepted the car and obtained the driver’s details.

According to a statement by police: “Highway Patrol officers stopped the Subaru … where the driver, a 23-year old man, produced a NSW CP1 provisional licence (and) had his details taken before being allowed to leave.”

However, the driver’s troubles had only just begun. Police later went over the footage in detail to determine a number of speeding offences which, when accumulated, would have added up to more than $10,000.

According to police: “Highway Patrol officers reviewed the PolAir (helicopter) recording and were able to ascertain the driver of the Subaru BRZ exceeded the speed by not more than 10 km/h once, more than 10 km/h once, more than 20 km/h six times, more than 30 km/h twice, and more than 45 km/h twice.”

NSW Police said that had speeding tickets been issued for each of those offences “this would equate to $10,252 in monetary fines and a total of 50 demerit points in only 11 minutes of driving”.

Police have since revealed the driver has since been charged with "drive in a speed/manner dangerous to the public” and is due to appear in Fairfield court on 27 July 2021.

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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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