Letters to the Editor

Tolls the best way for cutting down on cars

On Friday, July 23, it took me 1 1/2 hours to get to work from Makakilo to downtown. In the evening, it took another 1 3/4 hours to get home. This morning, it took 1 1/2 hours to go to work.

I looked around from my window seat in týhe bus, during my ample "spare time." One out of nine cars had a single driver.

I believe that people who use the roads should pay for it. I am for having tolls entering the central business district. This can be done by the GPS system sticker attached to the car registration, which would somehow automatically charge your account. This would bring revenue to the state and the city. Also, those who ride public transportation by choice would not be penalized for not driving their car. We have too many cars here already!

Too many questions about your driving

What is it that makes people insist on driving in the left lane? Does it make them feel superior or exalted in some fashion?

What is wrong with moving a lane or two to the right and driving among those who wish to drive at the same speed you do? Do you like being passed on the right? Do you feel righteous blocking traffic?

When was the last time you had your car's speedometer calibrated, to ensure that when you think you are driving at the speed limit, you actually are?

And why do you think it is helpful to turn on your turn signals after you have begun your turn, when anyone can see that your vehicle is turning? Is it too difficult a concept that turn signals are intended to signal your intention to turn, and not that you are turning? Sheesh!

Van cam program created this mess

Finally, a common-sense letter about highway speeding by D.J. Harrington on Aug. 2. Why hasn't the newspaper written about the Uniform Vehicle Code?

The entire problem started when the state DOT (Dummies Operating Traffic) implemented the aborted van cam program by defining "speeding" as any speed 1 mph or more over the posted speed limit. They made no distinction between 1 mph and 40 mph over the posted limit, even though there is an obvious safety difference.

This defined "speeders" in many people's minds as anyone driving 1 mph over the speed limit and gave them the excuse to slow down the "speeder" by deliberately driving at or below the speed limit in the left lane. This departed from the traditional leeway of about 10 percent over the speed limit, when conditions allowed. How many accidents are caused by "speeding" 1 mph to 6 mph over the posted limit?

Harrington also mentioned one of my pet peeves: when two cars cruise, side by side, at the same speed for an extended distance on a two-lane road. Unfortunately, most local drivers do not understand the meaning of the blinking lights of the car tailgating them. Most of the rest of the world knows it means the car wants to pass them.

'Underachievement' applies elsewhere

I loved David Shapiro's Aug. 4 column concerning Gov. Lingle's role in the Evan Dobelle controversy and especially his comment that "our university is among the national leaders in underachievement." What needs to be added is that this comment applies to all public education in Hawai'i, the status of which truly rivals the status of education in many of the so-called Third World countries.

We have this insular or "head in the sand" attitude about our excellence that leads to resistance to any change. Our motto needs to change from "Lucky you live Hawai'i" to "Wake up, Hawai'i."

Why couldn't military use Mainland sites?

I, a 12-year-old middle school student, agree with Nancie Caraway's Aug. 3 letter, "More militarization is bad news for us, 'aina." Strykers are machines of destruction, to both their enemies and the places they use as training grounds.

Why couldn't the military use the wide-open deserts of Arizona or New Mexico as the location for the Strykers' training program?

The rationale is summed up in these three words: global military security. Come on. They ask for a grand total of 24,400 acres of land for the Stryker program, even with a history of disregarding the environmental damages caused by themselves.

We might as well give them all the Islands now and be done with it.

Who will take Leeward commuters' challenge?

Both candidates for mayor published what they would do in their first 100 days in office (Focus, Aug. 1). While both mentioned road maintenance, neither had specifics on short- and long-term solutions to the commuter nightmare that Leeward residents face daily.

Here's the challenge: I will cast my vote for the candidate who publishes specific plans for immediate implementation of:

• Traffic reports that are updated every five minutes during rush hour, utilizing not just the current slow, usually inaccurate DOT system, but also utilizing HPD scanner information and helicopter traffic reports.

• Tow trucks by the key bottlenecks in the morning and evening rush hours and all day at the Pearl City off-ramp west-bound, now that construction has eliminated any shoulder area whatsoever.

• Express bus transportation specifically for the Manoa campus, with two or three pickup areas on the Leeward side that have ample parking.

• Daytime traffic reports on a dedicated radio station(s) to warn about the bottlenecks and accidents that occur frequently on our freeways during non-rush-hour times, seven days a week.

Mufi, Duke? Who wants my vote?