AIKEN, S.C. - After years of budget problems, South Carolina troopers are back in the air, clocking speeders from planes.

The Highway Patrol renewed its aerial traffic enforcement campaign this week along Interstate 20 in Aiken County.

A trooper in a Department of Natural Resources plane starts a calibrated stopwatch when he sees a vehicle cross a white line on the highway. The watch is clicked off a quarter-mile later when the vehicle crosses a second white line, pilot Garry Rozier said.

A quick bit of math gives the driver's speed and a trooper on the ground is radioed if driver needs to be pulled over and given a ticket, Rozier said.

Along with speeding, the troopers in the sky are looking for reckless drivers and drivers who follow too closely.

Troopers decided to restart the program in Aiken County because of its heavier traffic and higher number of fatalities.

The Highway Patrol started a similar campaign in 2000, but had to end it a year later because of budget cuts.