Posted at 10:09 a.m., Friday, December 7, 2001

Cameras catch 2,651 drivers speeding

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nearly one-third of the drivers caught on camera in the first three days of the state's new photo enforcement traffic system were speeding, according to the initial report on the project.

The figures, released by the state Transportation Department today, show that the cameras in unmarked vans along state highways took pictures of 8,690 moving vehicles between Monday and Wednesday.

Of those, 2,651 exceeded the posted speed limit in the area, said Marilyn Kali, DOT spokeswoman.

Kali said, however, that only several hundred of those speeding drivers will be issued warning letters. Glitches in the computer system, the inability to match license plates with a registered owner, partial license plate photos and other start-up problems kept the actual warning citations expected to be issued in the three-day period relatively low.

The number is expected to rise, however, as officials work the bugs out of the system, Kali said. Honolulu police say they normally issue about 100 traffic tickets a day, but in some similar-sized cities where the photo enforcement system has been the number of citations has reached 3,000 a day.

"Any person who exceeds the posted speed limit is subject to a citation," Kali said. However, a state DOT web site said the photo enforcement system uses an unspecified threshold above the speed limit to determine who actually receives a citation.

The vans, which use laser technology linked to high-speed digital cameras and a computer network, were placed at various times on the Pali Highway, Likelike Highway, Nimitz Highway and Kalaniana'ole highway in the Sandy Beach area.

The state says a warning phase of the program will continue for several more weeks. After that, registered owners of vehicles caught speeding will be issued a citation by mail and be required to pay fines that begin at $27 plus $5 for every mile over the speed limit.