Posted on: Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Senate committees shelve red-light bill

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

State senators, still smarting from the public backlash over "van cams," have likely killed a plan to allow counties to use cameras to catch drivers who run red lights.

Two Senate committees voted yesterday to hold a bill passed by the state House of Representatives that would have authorized photo traffic enforcement. A similar proposal failed at the end of last year's session.

State Sen. Lorraine Inouye, D-1st (Hamakua, S. Hilo), the chairwoman of the Senate Transportation and Government Operations Committee, said she backs the idea but found that there was not enough support from her colleagues. "Maybe not for this year," Inouye said.

The state Department of Transportation, the Honolulu prosecutor and insurance companies had supported the plan as a tool to improve traffic safety. The cameras would have been installed by the counties at fixed intersections that would have been known to drivers.

The van cams approved by the Legislature in 2001 and later repealed caused a public outcry in part because the vans used roving surveillance.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.