Ticketing cameras offer no exception

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

No exceptions, except for emergency vehicles.

That's the official word for government workers caught by the state's new photo traffic enforcement program.

Police officers, bus drivers, state workers — all will have to pay out of their own pockets if they're caught on camera while speeding or running a red light, according to city and state officials. The new program jumps into its live, ticket-issuing stage Wednesday.

"If someone is caught committing a traffic violation, we're going to issue the citation, period," Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali said. "The vendors have been told to treat everyone the same."

The only exception will be police cars, fire trucks and ambulances— and only if they are responding to an emergency with their lights flashing and sirens on, Kali said.

The state has issued more than 4,000 warning letters in the first trial weeks of the program, Kali said. That includes a handful that went to city and state vehicles, including several in the Transportation Department's own Highway Division, she said.

At least one warning was issued for a Honolulu Police Department squad car, Kali said.

Still working out kinks

Once the warnings give way to citations, HPD expects officers caught speeding or running a red light to pay their own fines, said department spokesman Jean Motoyama.

"The only exception would be for those responding to a legitimate emergency situation," she said. "We're still working out all the kinks but, generally speaking, officers can't exceed the speed limit."

However, HPD officials are still unsure how they'll respond to the case of an on-duty officer, using his own car, who violates the law in a nonemergency.

"That's one that we're still working on," she said.

Off-duty police officers, however, will receive no breaks, she said.

"They'll have to answer the ticket just like any other citizen. And they're free to plead their case before a judge just like anyone else," Motoyama said. "There's no way we can just dispose of a ticket. Only the judge can do that."

Police issue simmers

Police Chief Lee Donohue has warned officers not to place plastic covers over the license plates of any vehicles they drive on-duty. Such covers are meant to obscure license-plate digits when viewed from most angles, and local automobile accessory stores report selling hundreds since the traffic cameras were introduced.

Last month in Washington, D.C., several police officers said they were slowing their response, even in emergencies, because they had received photo citations and had to pay the fines for them.

Several officers told the Washington Times that even with proper paperwork, the department is sometimes unable to keep track of whether or not officers driving cars were on emergency business when the tickets were issued, leaving them liable for the ticket.

That shouldn't be a problem here, Motoyama said. The department keeps records of all working personnel and vehicles and will be able to tell quickly whether or not the officer was on duty at the time of the infraction, she said.

Robert Thomas, business manager for the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers, said the union is reviewing all aspects of how the new photo enforcement policy affects its members.

"Our lawyers are looking at the legality of the whole thing," he said. "We're in the process of reviewing everything, but haven't come to any conclusions yet."

Officials at O'ahu Transit Services, which runs the city bus system, said they'll continue a longtime policy that holds drivers responsible for their violations.

"It's always been the driver's responsibility, and that's the way it's going to stay," said Roger Morton, OTS senior vice president.

Morton said drivers are never asked to speed, even when they are running late on a posted schedule.

"That's a management problem, not the driver's problem," he said. "We know that sometimes it's just not possible to stay on time, and it's our job to deal with that. That's not something we ask the drivers to do."

City, state policies

City and state officials said they are developing policies to hold individual drivers responsible for any tickets they receive while using government vehicles.

Any citations received on the nearly 1,500 state vehicles operated on O'ahu will be forwarded to individual departments, which then will identify the driver and notify the court for further action, said Harold Sonomura, administrator of Automotive Division of the Department of Accounting and General Services.

Honolulu officials also are developing a uniform policy for county drivers, according to spokeswoman Carol Costa.

"All our drivers are being reminded to stay within the speed limits and they'll certainly be held accountable for their actions," Costa said. "We want to make sure that we have a policy that is uniform across the board for all our non-public safety departments, but some things may have to be ironed out with different union groups."

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5460.