Governor prefers speeding threshold be secret

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

State judges should not announce the threshold they use to dismiss traffic camera speeding citations, Gov. Ben Cayetano said yesterday.

"By doing so, they effectively change the speed limit, and I think that's wrong," Cayetano said.

District Court judges, using discretionary powers, have routinely dismissed camera-generated citations of drivers who exceed the speed limit by 9 mph or less. The judges say they are applying an unstated standard that police have long used to issue speeding tickets.

"It's up to the judiciary to do the enforcement, but what concerns me is probably what concerned (Honolulu Police Chief) Lee Donahue — that the courts should go and announce there is this threshold," Cayetano said. "They're not the Legislature. They're not the City Council."

He also said judges should be aware of differences in circumstances because "it's one thing to give a person a break if they're going 10 mph above the speed limit on the freeway" and "it's another thing ... if they're going through a 25 mph zone."

Cayetano also criticized the legislators who wrote the law authorizing the program but who have since backpedaled after facing public outrage and early evidence that the program is not paying for itself, as originally intended.

"This program is a creature and creation of the state Legislature, therefore if any revenues fall short, the Legislature should be willing to step forward and make up the difference," he said. "I'm not sure why the legislators have become so self-righteous about this all of a sudden."

The Senate has approved a bill to repeal the photo enforcement program; the House voted to revise it. The differences are expected to be discussed in a conference committee next month.

Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief Kevin Dayton contributed to this report.