House targets van cams

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

The state House is ready to take its shot at fixing the unpopular traffic camera program.

Less than a week after three Senate committees voted to kill the program, House members are set to hear testimony this morning on a bill to "repeal and replace" the law that brought the cameras to Hawai'i.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Joe Souki wants to scrap the existing program, replacing it with one that would require a citation that identifies the driver of the auto, not just the owner, and ban insurance companies from using camera citations as a basis for increasing premiums.

It also would stipulate that the private company operating the system be paid a flat fee, rather than on the per-ticket basis now in effect.

"A lot of people just want to scrap traffic cameras — period," said Souki, D-8th (Waiehu, Ma'alaea, Napili). "But I have to go back to 1998, when excessive speeding was a top priority and the community demanded that we do something about the extreme danger it presented. I think we have a moral obligation to respect that concern as well."

Last week members of the Senate Transportation, Judiciary and Tourism committees rebuffed all efforts to make changes to salvage the program. They voted instead for repeal.

Gov. Ben Cayetano yesterday backed efforts to keep the program alive, saying: "... There are many legislators now, a great number of them, who are saying, 'Well, OK, the system is flawed but let's see if we can fix it up.' And that's the position I think everyone should take because this technology is working."

Testimony on the House bill, HB2167,is scheduled to be heard starting at 9 this morning in Room 309 of the Capitol.