Posted on: Tuesday, February 5, 2002

Legislator wants to suspend traffic-cam tickets

Advertiser Staff

Senate Transportation Chairman Cal Kawamoto, one of the strongest supporters of the state's traffic photo enforcement program, now favors a moratorium on citations until Feb. 20, the day after the first challenges to the program are heard in court.

"We don't know what the courts are going to decide what is a good ticket or not," Kawamoto said yesterday. "We should maybe create a moratorium until such time as we know what their course of decisions are on these things."

Kawamoto, D-19th (Waipahu, Pearl City), still favors the cameras.

"We gotta keep it alive, and (if) for me to keep it alive means to make some concessions of the concerns that's out there, I'm willing to do that," he said.

The program will receive two major public airings today.

The first, a hearing before Senate Transportation and Judiciary committees on a Republican-introduced measure to repeal the existing program and prohibit use of automated enforcement devices in most circumstances, is expected to draw a crowd.

The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m. in Room 229 of the State Capitol.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i also plans to hold a public forum to help motorists fight camera citations in court. That session is set for 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Blaisdell Center Pikake Room.