Police should spread
net beyond speeding

The Honolulu Police Department says it has started a new crackdown on speeding drivers with district commanders authorized to allot up to 1,000 hours of overtime pay for officers to nail those who scoff at the speed limits.

That's fine, but it doesn't go far enough. The cops should be on the lookout for drivers who run red lights or charge through stop signs with hardly a tap on the brakes. They should pull over drivers who are hogging the left lane on the highway at 10 miles under the speed limit while talking on a cell phone. Officers on patrol should nab drivers who change lanes or make turns without so much as a flicker of the turn signals. Then there are the tailgaters who run up the backs of other cars with impunity.

Granted that catching these violators may be more difficult than zapping speeders with a radar gun but a guess says they cause more accidents than speeders, or at least they cause more road rage. The police should go after them with equal zeal; otherwise, they will be doing little more than applying Band-Aids when major surgery is required.

Richard Halloran

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