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Four deaths Three people were killed in separate early-morning traffic accidents yesterday, and a Waialua man died when he fell while stringing firecrackers five minutes before midnight Monday in a busy New Year's for isle emergency personnel.
mar new year
Despite the fatalities, celebrations were
more subdued than in previous yearsCandid traffic cameras will soon bring frowns
By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.comThe Waialua man, 48, died when he fell backward off a 5-foot hollow tile wall and struck his head on the pavement. The man had been pulling on ropes and stringing up fireworks five minutes before midnight, police said.
Despite the four fatal accidents, however, Honolulu Fire Department officials said New Year's celebrations were more subdued than previous years even though firefighters responded to more calls than last year.
Firefighters responded to 145 emergency calls on New Year's Eve compared with 133 last year, and 62 from midnight to 8 a.m. yesterday, compared with 32 calls after midnight last year, said Capt. Kenison Tejada, spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department. Of those calls, 81 were for emergency medical services.
While there were more calls than last year, the damages were far less than the year before, when illegal aerial fireworks were the suspected cause of three house fires, one of which killed 82-year-old Lillian Herring of Palolo.
"There were slightly more calls, but a lot of them were small -- trash fires, rubbish fires, grass fires, brush fires," Tejada said. "They weren't long in duration."
Fireworks were involved in 23 calls to the fire department and may have been involved in another 22, Tejada said. He said the only major structure fire before dawn was at a portable building at Mililani High School, which may have been deliberately set.
Tejada said there was a noticeable decline in the number of aerial fireworks that typically fill the skies as midnight draws near.
"The event of 9-11 does seem to have affected everyone," he said. "I think it was more important for people to spend time with their family. I've heard that sentiment a lot."
Police on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island said no serious fireworks injuries were reported.
But Oahu and Maui saw a number of serious traffic accidents, starting with a collision that temporarily closed the eastbound lanes of the H-1 freeway past the Punahou Street overpass on New Year's Eve.
Police said that about 10:10 p.m., a 32-year-old Honolulu woman driving a 2000 Nissan sports utility vehicle in the center lane had been attempting to change to the right lane and panicked when she saw there was another car there.
She then oversteered back into the middle lane and then into the left lane, striking a 1989 Toyota two-door driven by a 25-year-old Waipahu male with a 22-year-old female passenger. The Toyota collided with the concrete barrier on the right shoulder but no one in that car was injured.
After hitting the Toyota, the Nissan continued on, hit the median and overturned. A 6-month-old girl in a car seat was unharmed and the driver received cuts to her left foot.
However, a 60-year-old Oregon woman in the back seat sustained critical injuries and was taken to Queen's Medical Center. She was the only person involved in the collision who had not been wearing a seatbelt. Police said speed and alcohol did not appear to be factors in the collision.
On Maui, a 17-year-old Wailuku girl police identified as Kulia-Naomi Souza died when the Ford Escort she was riding in struck a utility pole on Iao Valley Road at about 2 a.m. yesterday. The car slid on to the right shoulder of the road near Ua Place and struck the utility pole on the passenger's side, police said.
The driver suffered a right pelvis fracture and multiple abrasions. A 19-year-old female riding in the back seat fractured her right arm and also suffered multiple abrasions. Police are investigating whether speed, drugs and alcohol were factors in the collision.
On Oahu at 2:10 a.m., a 28-year-old woman driving east on Farrington Highway in a 1999 Honda sedan rear-ended a Nissan pickup truck that had been waiting to turn left on to Helelua Street, police said. Her front passenger, a 36-year-old Waianae woman, was pronounced dead at the scene.
At 6:20 a.m., a 22-year-old male was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle on Halawa Heights Road.
Police said the male apparently had been speeding when he slowed before going into an S-curve.
The motorcycle went into a skid and hit a guardrail before sliding to a stop. The rider was flung from the motorcycle and hit a parked car. He was not wearing a helmet.
Police said speed is a possible factor, and it is unknown whether alcohol also contributed to the collision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Starting today, the owners of cars caught speeding by the state Department of Transportation's traffic cameras will get tickets instead of warnings. Candid traffic cameras will
soon bring frownsStar-Bulletin staff
The citations will be mailed to the registered owners of the cars within three days.
For the past month the registered owners of cars snapped by the cameras received warning citations in the mail. About 5,000 warning citations went out since Dec. 3.
The citations being issued from today will cost $27 plus $5 for every mile per hour the car was traveling over the speed limit.
If the ticket is not paid within 15 days, the base will go up to $52.
The new traffic camera ticket system is operated from inside or next to a van parked along a street or highway.
Vehicles are targeted by the operator with a laser gun to measure the speed.
0If the vehicle exceeds the speed limit by a set amount, a digital camera automatically captures two images of the vehicle's position on the road and its license plate.
Department of Transportation director Brian Minaai would not disclose what speed over the limit will trigger a ticket, but he said its safe to assume that it will be over a 10 percent margin of error.
The registered owner of the vehicle caught speeding is mailed a citation that includes the photographs taken at the time of the violation and information on vehicle speed, time of day and location.
The cameras were authorized by the Legislature in 1998 as a three-year demonstration project.
Initially, four vans will set up at sites on various highways and roads on Oahu. Cameras are also being installed at 10 intersections and will be used to photograph vehicles that run red lights.
The state is still waiting for city approval to synch cameras at intersections with the traffic signal to catch motorists who run red lights before those citations can be issued.
Following an evaluation period, both programs will be implemented on the Neighbor Islands.
The fine for a red light violation is $77 if paid within 15 days and $102 if paid after 15 days.
The first $27 from each fine goes to the Judiciary for its administrative and education fees. The vendor gets $29.25 for each citation issued. The remainder goes into the Photo Enforcement Revolving Fund to pay administrative costs of operating the program. Any excess funds will go into the state general fund.
If the registered owner was not the driver at the time of the violation, the state says the owner needs to get the driver to sign an affidavit claiming responsibility. The vendor will then reissue a new citation to the driver.
A procedure is still being worked out for drivers of state and county vehicles to take responsibility for tickets.
Individual companies with fleet-owned vehicles must also work out their own arrangements.
The legislation allows car rental companies to pay a flat rate per violation and charge the cost to the customer's credit card.
Motorists also have the option of contesting the violations in court or sending a written statement to the judge explaining the situation.
If there is no response to the citation (by written statement or in person on the scheduled court date), a default judgment in favor of the state will be ordered by the judge. A "license stopper" will be placed on the vehicle's registration and driver's license, meaning the registration and license may not be renewed until the fine is paid.
The Traffic Violations Bureau will record all moving violations on a driver's traffic abstract and that may affect insurance rates.
Possible areas for traffic cams
These are the locations where speed enforcement cameras may be set up.
>> Farrington Highway
>> Fort Weaver Road
>> H-1 Freeway
>> H-2 Freeway
>> H-3 Freeway
>> Kahekili Highway
>> Kalanianaole Highway
>> Kamehameha Highway, Route 83
>> Kamehameha Highway, Route 99
>> Kaneohe Bay Drive
>> Kunia Road
>> Likelike Highway
>> Moanalua Freeway
>> Nimitz Highway
>> Pali HighwaySource: Department of Transportation