House panel OKs 2 bills reviving traffic cameras
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Fixed cameras that snap photographs could nab motorists who run red lights and speed under separate bills that cleared the House Transportation Committee yesterday.
• House Bill 1324, which allows counties to set up cameras to photograph motorists who run red lights, and House Bill 1325, which allows the counties to establish a similar program to enforce speeding laws, have passed the House Transportation Committee. They have been referred to the House Judiciary and Finance committees and must advance out of those committees before a final vote is taken by the House. • A photo red-light enforcement bill also has been introduced in the Senate.
Counties would have the option of establishing the program, and would keep the money generated. Traffic-violation revenues now go into state coffers.
What's next
The stationary cameras would snap photographs at intersections and along state and county roads, and it would be up to the county where they would be planted. Their location would be known to motorists, unlike the controversial "van cams" that led to a firestorm of controversy and ultimate repeal of the law that launched them in 2002.
Both bills yesterday received the support of the state Department of Transportation, city prosecutors and Honolulu police.
Deputy Prosecutor Lori Nishimura said photos taken would be mailed along with accompanying traffic citations to the registered owners of vehicles. A vehicle owner who could prove he or she was not driving the car at the time of the violation could show up in court and get the citation thrown out, Nishimura said.
"When used appropriately, we believe that photo enforcement can help in increasing public awareness of traffic safety issues and can decrease traffic injuries and fatalities," Nishimura said.
The red-light traffic camera proposal also was endorsed by the Hawai'i Insurers Council and the Downtown Neighborhood Board.
A 1999 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study showed that red-light-running violations dropped 42 percent in Oxnard, Calif., after cameras were installed in only nine intersections, according to Alison Powers, executive director of the Hawai'i Insurers Council.
But former city Board of Water Supply employee Milton Imada said he thinks traffic cameras are a mistake, be they in place to bust red-light violators or speeders.
He warned lawmakers about what happened when the state hired a company to operate "van cams" that enforced speeding laws on the freeway. In 2002, lawmakers repealed the so-called "van cam" program only three months after it began when they were bombarded by complaints.
"We believe it is wrong and unconscionable to spy on and treat motorists who try their best to make no mistakes like criminals because of the irresponsible few," Imada said. He said if lawmakers want to know how the public feels about the proposals, they should let voters decide their outcome on a ballot.
A proposal to allow for photo enforcement of the red-light law faltered in the waning days of last year's Legislature.
House Transportation Chairman Joe Souki, D-8th (Wailuku, Waiehu), said he is more optimistic that the red-light enforcement camera bill will make it out of the Legislature this year than the proposal to enforce speed limits with cameras.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
