Posted on: Friday, February 1,2002

Editorial
About traffic camera: Mend it, don't end it

When the political tides turned against affirmative action in the 1990s, President Clinton's message was "Mend it, but don't end it." Well, the same goes for Hawai'i's cursed traffic camera program. Even though there's much not to like about these privatized speed traps, there's a glimmer of hope that the program could work out if it only made better sense.

After all, let's not forget that lawmakers in 1998 voted for a system to nab more speed demons and red-light runners. Today, judging by the frequency of traffic fatalities, reckless driving is still a major concern around the state.

What has changed is that the state Department of Transportation has launched — with little if any public input — a pilot program that penalizes motorists who are not necessarily driving recklessly, but happen to have been caught on camera exceeding the posted speed limit.

The resulting hostility has spurred more than half the members of the state Legislature to sign a petition to curtail the program. They want the cameras removed from O'ahu's main highways, and are calling for a full legislative review. Meanwhile, a Senate Transportation Committee hearing on a bill to repeal the program and a measure to re-evaluate the program is set for Tuesday.

Things are moving fast, no doubt because lawmakers want to resolve this issue so they can get on with balancing the budget and more pressing concerns. The question is, are we really ready to dump a program intended to make our roads safer? Or is there a way we can we salvage it and avoid wasting big bucks buying out the contract of the Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, which operates the traffic cameras?

Under the "Mend it, don't end it" philosophy, we suggest that the DOT and the Legislature do the following:

• Target drag racers and red-light runners rather than motorists who are going with the flow of traffic even though they're driving a few miles above the speed limit

• Review speed limits, particularly on the freeways and Kalaniana'ole and Pali highways, and devise a plan to place the traffic cameras only where speed limits are reasonable and yet speeding is a problem.

• Reduce any profit incentive by paying a flat fee to the vendor instead of a per-ticket amount.

• Except in the case of red-light runners and motorists who drive 15 mph or more over the speed limit, treat traffic camera citations as parking violations and pass a law that will stop them from impacting insurance rates.