Running that red light? Gotcha, red-handed!
| • | Graphic: How the system works |
| • | List of camera locations |
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
Slow down, Hawai'i. The cameras are watching.
The state will launch its long-planned photo traffic enforcement program next week, using lasers, underground sensors, digital cameras and computers to catch speeders and drivers who run red lights.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
The program is intended to deter two of the most dangerous types of traffic violators, state Transportation Department spokeswoman Marilyn Kali said yesterday. 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, Kali said.
Luis Nieves, right, certified camera operator with Affiliated Computer Services, and implementation manager Jack Weaver test Poltech's LaseCam NT inside a van.
"The goal of this program isn't to issue more citations, but to cut down on violators and save lives," Kali said.
The $5 million, three-year pilot program will be run by a private company, ACS State and Local Solutions, which operates similar programs around the world and generates revenues of more than $1 billion. Under its contract with the state, the company will install and monitor the cameras at intersections and in unmarked Toyota vans parked along highways.
When the cameras catch a violation, the pictures and information will be recorded in a central computer and double-checked against existing motor vehicle registration information. Within three days, the registered owner of the vehicle will receive a citation, including the exact location, time, other details and pictures of the violation.
Hawai'i courts will treat the photo citations the same as a ticket issued by a police officer.
If someone else was driving the car, the registered owner will have the option of identifying the actual driver and shifting the responsibility of the fine to that person.
Officials also said that if a driver is waiting to make a left turn and the light turns red, no citation will be issued as long as the driver entered the intersection before the red light.
Otherwise, fines for running a red light will be $77 if paid within 15 days. Speeding violators will have to pay $27 plus $5 for every mile per hour over the posted speed limit. Revenue generated by the citations will be shared by ACS, the state judiciary and the Transportation Department, Kali said.
The program will start Monday with cameras turned on at one intersection — Vineyard Boulevard and Punchbowl Street — and on two vans along state highways marked with signs noting that the area is a photo enforcement zone.
Within a few months, cameras could be operational at 15 intersections and on 12 vans. The program will be expanded to up to 30 intersections and the Neighbor Islands sometime next year, Kali said.
Michael Schelei, a manager for ACS, said it's impossible to estimate how many citations the system will generate because the number of violations varies around the world.
In some Mainland cities, up to 3,000 photo-generated citations are issued daily, said Honolulu police Sgt. Robert Lung. In Honolulu, police average 103 citations daily for speeding.
"This is going to make a big difference in safety," said Capt. Bryan Wauke, head of Honolulu Police Department's Traffic Division. "This is going to supplement our work. There are a lot of places we cannot safely pull speeders over and intersections where we can't stop violators without creating a disruption."
Kali said violators will receive only a warning for about the first two weeks of the program. After that, the fines will begin.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said yesterday that he expects the 1998 law authorizing the photo-enforcement system in Hawai'i to be challenged in courts by those worried about invasion of privacy, but he is sure the law will be upheld.
"An exaggerated notion of civil rights should not be used to fight the right of people to be safe on the roads," he said.
Officials say the system is almost mistake-proof. In the vans, lasers record the speed of vehicles, up to 200 mph, and mix that information with a picture that shows the speeding car, caught in set of cross-hairs, and a close-up of the rear license plate.
Initial location for photo-enforcement of laws regarding stop lights
• Vineyard Boulevard and Punchbowl Street
• Pali Highway and School Street
• Likelike Highway and Kahekili Highway
• H-1 Exit 18 East and Middle Street
• Nimitz Highway and Kalihi Street
• Kunia Road and Kupuna Loop
• Kalaniana'ole Highway and 'Ainakoa Avenue/Waikui Street
• Farrington Highway and Nanakuli Avenue
• Fort Weaver Road and A'awa Drive/Old Fort Weaver Road
• Kamehameha Highway and Pali Momi Street
Initial locations for photo-enforcement of speeding laws
• Farrington Highway
• Fort Weaver Road
• H-1 Freeway
• H-2 Freeway
• H-3 Freeway
• Kahekili Highway
• Kalaniana'ole Highway
• Kamehameha Highway, Route 83 & 99
• Kane'ohe Bay Drive
• Kunia Road
• Likelike Highway
• Moanalua Freeway
• Nimitz Highway
• Pali Highway
Source: State Department of Transportation
