Posted on: Saturday, December 8, 2001
State won't cite all speeders
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
The state now says it won't ticket all motorists caught on camera going over the speed limit, but will rely instead on an undisclosed speed "threshold" to decide who will be fined.
New photo enforcement cameras on state highways captured images of 2,651 speeders — more than 30 percent of all surveyed drivers — in the first three days of the program, according to state Department of Transportation statistics released yesterday.
Most of those drivers, however, will not even receive a written warning. Because of first-day glitches in the system, an inability to match license plates with registered owners and partial license plate photos, fewer than 330 owners of speeding vehicles will be warned, said DOT spokeswoman Marilyn Kali.
Moreover, the state never intended to ticket everyone going over the speed limit, Transportation Director Brian Minaai said.
"We deliberately have avoided to publicly disclose the threshold that will trigger a citation using the new technology," Minaai said in a letter to the editor sent to The Advertiser. "Telling motorists how fast they can drive above the limit and avoid a citation may convince some of them that it's perfectly OK to speed. In fact, it's not OK."
In announcing the start of the program last week, officials insisted that anyone caught going even 1 mile per hour over the legal limit would be subject to a fine under the new program, in which a private contractor uses lasers, digital cameras and a computer network to gather evidence about speeders and then mail the vehicle's owner a traffic citation within three days of the violation.
The cameras for speeders went into trial runs this week. The state plans to begin issuing traffic citations, rather than warnings, later this month.
From Monday to Wednesday the cameras in unmarked vans were placed at locations along the Pali, Likelike Highway, Nimitz and Kalaniana'ole highways. Pictures were taken of 8,690 moving vehicles; 2,651 of them exceeded the speed limit, Kali said.
It is unclear, however, how many of those cars exceeded the state's threshold.
"Any person who exceeds the posted speed limit is subject to a citation," Kali said yesterday. "We are not publicly discussing a threshold."
However, a Web site for the state DOT says: "If a targeted vehicle is exceeding the speed limit by more than a set figure, the digital camera automatically and simultaneously captures two digital images — one of the vehicle's position on the road, and another of its license plate to enable identification."
Earle Partington, a criminal defense lawyer who has handled traffic cases and is a former president of the Hawai'i Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he expects the speeding threshold to start at 5 miles per hour over the legal limit.
"That's what the cops tend to give you," he said. "I don't know why it should be anything different for photos, but sometimes you might get a bigger break on the freeways."
The state says the photo enforcement system for speeders and drivers running red lights is designed to cut down on serious accidents in Hawai'i.
In the past five years, 73 people died at Hawai'i intersections when a driver ran a red light; more than 260 people were killed and 12,500 injured in speeding crashes here since 1991. Photo enforcement, which supplements police patrols, has proved an effective tool in dozens of other cities around the world in reducing the violations and related accidents, officials say.
The state says that within a few months it will have the camera technology in a dozen roving vans and mounted at about 15 intersections to catch red-light violators. In some U.S. cities where the program is used, up to 3,000 citations a day are issued.
Currently, Honolulu police say they issue an average of about 100 tickets per day for traffic violations, including speeding.
"Speeders and red light runners are a serious threat to highway safety," Minaai said. "This project is about preventing fatalities and injuries and making our streets and highways safer for all of us."
Some people, however, have complained that Hawai'i's speed limits are unreasonably low in some areas. Minaai disagreed.
"Speed limits are not set arbitrarily," he said in his letter. "They are based on the design of the road ... and on the use of the road ... In all instances, speed limits are considered the safe driving speed for most conditions."
The photo enforcement program, set up under a 1998 state law and under development since then, has received protests from people worried about a violation of privacy, civil liberties, increased auto insurance and perceived injustices in the system.
Similar programs elsewhere have generally withstood numerous legal challenges, but in San Diego earlier this year, a judge shut down the program saying that the company hired to run the program had an unfair financial incentive to issue more tickets.
In Hawai'i, the company, ACS State and Local Solutions, receives a $27 payment for every fine.
Fines for running a red light in Hawai'i are $77 if paid within 15 days. Speeding violators will have to pay $27 plus $5 for every mile over the speed limit. The rest of the money goes for state court expenses, driver education programs and the Transportation Department.
Partington said even with a dramatic increase in the number of tickets being issued, many people won't challenge the citations.
"Once you see the photographic evidence, you pretty much realize you've been nailed," he said. "That's that. Pay the fine and move on."
Paying the fine, however, could have a dramatic impact on some owners' automobile insurance rates.
"Without a doubt, I don't see how it can be any other way," Partington said. "Insurance companies buy driving abstracts, and when they see tickets, they increase your rates. That's the way it works."
Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5460.
