By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Traffic notes from near and far:

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says nighttime glare is driving people to distraction. The agency received more than 1,700 letters and e-mails in five months on the topic. "Nothing in recent memory has attracted as many comments," a spokesman said.

The complaints come in two categories: ubiquitous sport utility vehicles, many of which have headlights mounted so high that they shine directly into the eyes of drivers of sedans; and those new high-intensity, blue-tinged headlights installed on many luxury cars.

• It's true: Red cars get more tickets.

Research in Orange County, Fla., shows that people who drove red, yellow or white cars received more speeding tickets and at lower speeds than those driving green, brown, black or blue cars.

The researchers from the University of Central Florida concluded their findings offered "compelling evidence" that drivers of brightly colored vehicles are more prone to getting tickets than those in less flashy cars.

At night, the difference in car colors becomes less apparent. The average speed of those ticketed after sunset was about the same regardless of color.

• Drivers in London will pay $7 a day to take a car into the city center. The city's "congestion charge" will be levied on cars and trucks entering an eight-square-mile zone each weekday.

The tax will be photo-enforced, too. Hundreds of closed-circuit cameras will record the license plate number of every car entering the central zone. Drivers who don't pay the fee will be fined $120.

• Hawai'i County officials plan to build another mauka-makai road connecting the coastal Ali'i Drive to Kuakini Highway in the Kona area.

The $2 million extension of Lako Street is part of a long-range plan to provide a road network system to distribute and ease traffic in the Kailua-to-Keauhou corridor.

• California's Orange County has the fastest-growing bus system in the country, carrying more than 45 million passengers last year, a 10 percent increase over 2000.

It was the highest increase of any major metropolitan area for the first three quarters of the year. Los Angeles was second at 7.45 percent growth and New York City was third with 5.65 percent.

Honolulu's ridership was down 1.44 percent in the same period.

• Sixty percent of new-car buyers say they would purchase a hybrid electric vehicle that gets better mileage than a conventional model, but they won't pay more than $1,000 extra for the benefit.

Nearly one-third of those surveyed said they would strongly consider buying a hybrid vehicle even if the fuel savings don't cover the extra up-front costs. Current hybrids cost about $3,000 more than convention models, but the difference is expected to narrow as sales volume increases.

• The White House wants to modify a proposal for a tire pressure monitoring system in all vehicles.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration plan calls for monitors in each wheel that would alert drivers to low pressure, which hurts gas mileage and can lead to blowouts.

However, the Office of Management and Budget wants automakers to have the option of modifying antilock braking systems to measure tire pressure.

Automakers favor the White House alternative because it's cheaper, but safety advocates say such a system isn't as accurate as one attached to each tire.

• All vehicles sold in the United States must have a buzzer and dashboard light that reminds drivers to buckle up, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants automakers to go further.

Officials cited Ford Motor Co.'s new BeltMinder system as an example of what's needed. Drivers who aren't buckled up in a vehicle with BeltMinder are subjected to five minutes of intermittent beeping and a flashing light on the instrument panel.

A study by the insurance industry found that 76 percent of drivers in vehicles with BeltMinder buckled up, compared with 71 percent in vehicles without the system.

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column appears every Tuesday. Reach him at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.