Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: What is being done about the drivers who are missing the front license plate? I recently rode the bus from Kaneohe to Nuuanu and counted at least 15 cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles without the front license plate. Cars without front plates
are in danger of a ticketQ: Do you know if parked cars can be cited without having front license plates? Or can they be cited only while in operation?
Answer: When a violation is observed, "we do issue citations," said Sgt. Clyde Yamashiro of the Honolulu Police Department's Traffic Division.
A vehicle does not have to be moving to be cited, he said.
Although some states do not require a front plate, Hawaii law specifies both front and rear plates.
From January to November 2001, a total of 1,930 citations for license-plate violations were issued, Yamashiro said. However, the statistics weren't broken down into specific categories of violation -- whether plates were missing, obscured or wrongly mounted.
The number of citations issued each month last year varied from 104 to 231 to a high of 547 in October. There wasn't an explanation as to why so many were issued in October, Yamashiro said.
Asked if the state Department of Transportation's photo-enforcement program to catch speeders by photographing front-license plates would have any bearing on police enforcement, Yamashiro said, "It's just a matter of practice. If there is a violation, then we'll cite for it."
Q: Why did the city accept delivery of Rubbermaid waste containers with defective lock latches? When you drive around Oahu you can see the side-mounted, hinged doors swinging open at almost every bus stop. The open doors are a hazard to pedestrians. The defective containers do not contain odors or control access by children or animals. These containers must have cost the city hundreds of dollars each. They look shabby and unsanitary flopping open all of the time. Is this another case of mainland companies trashing our islands?
A: The problem is not with a defective latch, according to a city spokeswoman, but with people.
"Vandals and homeless are opening the containers and rummaging through the contents," said Carol Costa, director of the Department of Customer Services. "They often leave the doors open or damage the hinges to make access easier."
The Rubbermaid trash containers, stationed at bus stops and some city facilities about a year ago, were purchased through the bid process at $217 each, she said. The low bidder was a local company, Shubert Sanitary Supply.
In answer to the problem, Costa said the city already is "replacing some of the Rubbermaid trash containers from our existing inventory or readjusting the doors so they will close properly. We also have a schedule to clean them and remove graffiti."
Auwe
Regarding the airport security searches, I notice that they do not provide a chair, stool or bench for people asked to remove their shoes. I've seen people sitting on the floor, requiring help to balance. I think airport security should provide some place for people to sit when asked to remove their footwear. -- L.(Joe Guyton, airlines security coordinator at Honolulu Airport, says there are floor mats and chairs at all security checkpoints for that purpose.)
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