Letters to the Editor

Legislators must not buckle under pressure

Sometimes medicine doesn't taste very good, but we need it. Such is the case of the speeding cameras.

A lot of people don't like them, but they're a dose of medicine we can all live with. We live on a such a small island, there's no place we can't be in less than an hour. Why jeopardize your safety and the safety of others simply to save a few minutes?

I hope our legislators have the guts to withstand the pressure being aimed at them. I would rather rely on the judgment of our traffic engineers who have been trained in these matters than a bunch of self-appointed engineers who feel they have to rush everywhere they go.

Slow down, take it easy and enjoy life.

S. Nelson
Hale'iwa

Sold car gets ticket and I get a headache

On Jan. 11, I sold my car to a fellow worker and mailed in the certificate of title. The Division of Motor Vehicles received it and the title was changed to the new owner on Jan. 14.

On Jan. 23, I came home and there was a letter in the mail from the Circuit Court, Traffic Division, that the traffic van had caught my old car going 56 mph in a 50-mph zone. The fine was $57. The new owner of the vehicle was the one who was caught on the camera but I, the former owner, got the ticket. The ticket was issued on Jan. 17 — six days after I had sold the car.

What a mess. Now I have to go to City Hall and get a certified notification of transfer and write a letter of explanation, etc., etc. I called the Circuit Court, and they said it was the first time this has occurred.

The state and ACS should update the speed of their computers or be held responsible for the inconvenience that their errors cause others.

John Kustermann

Uninsured vehicles should be impounded

To reduce gridlock, uninsured vehicles should be taken off the road. This would reduce vehicle traffic, stress and road rage by at least 20 percent. Some measures that should be considered:

• Work with insurance companies. (Insurers are there to make money and would automatically inform the state when insurance lapses or is terminated. My insurer informs my lender when my policy lapses.)

• Impound uninsured vehicles during police traffic stops. (Uninsured vehicles do not belong on the road; the owners should pay for towing and storage.)

• Penalize those who falsify insurance coverage. (Anyone with a computer can duplicate or alter identification or documents.)

If officers can call for checks on vehicle registration and addresses over the radio, it is not a far reach to have information on insurance coverage. All that is needed is a additional entry on the data base.

L. Higa

How can landowner be denied his land?

Let's see, now, Mr. G. Kawamoto owns some land that Mr. J. Schade and Ms. C. Murakami have been using as a driveway for the past 40 years. Kawamoto, the landowner, wants his land back, so he removes the driveway from his land.

All well, good and legal so far.

Now comes an elected council member saying he has found a law that entitles these two folks to take the land Kawamoto owns because they have used it for more that five years without complaint from the landowner.

I find it incredible that someone can take someone else's land simply by using that land without permission or complaint from the landowner for a period of five years.

Then again, in 1898, America took possession of the Republic of Hawai'i from the traitorous kingdom and American citizens who, along with heavily armed American military troops, had overthrown the lawful government of Hawai'i in 1893.

Sharon Pomroy
Anahola, Kaua'i

Campaign corruption needs politicians' help

Any day now, there will be another uproar about campaign finance reform related to our now-infamous mayor.

These campaign donations only became illegal when he accepted them. Some of the blame lies with the offerers, but were it not for politicians easily swayed by the amount of money offered to them daily, this would be a non-issue.

So, before anyone wants to "shoot the messenger," let's all take a look at the politicians. By asking for campaign finance laws, they are admitting they can be bribed.

Larry Symons

Doesn't make sense

Having smoking and nonsmoking areas in a restaurant makes about as much sense as having peeing and nonpeeing sections in a swimming pool.

Richard Kingdon