Windward Oahu residents
say new traffic cameras
will boost safety

They hope the use of the special
cameras on Kamehameha
Highway will cut fatalities

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

While some are complaining about the state's plan to use special cameras to catch speeders and people who run red lights, many Windward Oahu residents who use Kamehameha Highway welcome the new technology.

"I'm surprised that people are up in arms about surveillance by camera," said state Rep. Colleen Meyer.

"We're looking for safety. Signs are posted, and you know what the speed limit is. So if you're going over the speed limit, you run the risk of being ticketed."

Meyer, whose 46th District runs from Laie to Heeia Kea, has been pushing for a change in the law to allow the cameras for years because of the high proportion of traffic fatalities on Kamehameha Highway between Kahekili Highway and Waimea Bay.

According to statistics from Meyer's office, between 1992 and 1997 there were 35 traffic-related deaths on that stretch of road.

In 1995, 13 percent of the traffic fatalities statewide happened there.

Dale Hammond of Laie allowed that at first the new tickets, which will be issued by mail, "are going to cause a lot of anger. People will be upset that they got nabbed and will call it tyrannical or dictatorial.

"But I don't see any difference between the cameras and a policeman sitting there. ... I support it."

"I think if it's something that will save lives, it's a good thing," said Sunny Greer, a Koolauloa Neighborhood Board member.

"We have a two-lane highway. Traffic fatalities and traffic safety is an issue."

"I'm from New Zealand, and they have hidden cameras all over the country," said Iraani Bridges. "It makes people slow down."

Bridges said that just yesterday her husband and son were passed by a wildly speeding driver on their way from Hauula to Honolulu.

Six mobile units in vans, which use lasers to clock speeds and then take a photograph of the offender's license plate, are being tested over the next few weeks at various locations on Oahu.

The program also includes fixed cameras at intersections to catch vehicles running red lights.

As many as 334 warning tickets may be issued from the first three days the system was tested, from Dec. 3 to Dec. 5, according to a Transportation Department release.

Several thousand vehicles were clocked at over the speed limit, but a computer software glitch and other factors mean not all the speeders will get warnings.

These problems mean real tickets won't be issued beginning Dec. 17 as originally planned.