[TRAFFIC CAMERAS]
Legislative critics of the state's traffic cameras say yesterday's court action throwing out dozens of flawed speeding citations is another reason to get rid of the law that created the controversial program. Court action ‘another nail’
for cams’ repealBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"I think that this will just add another nail," said Senate Vice President Colleen Hanabusa (D, Waianae).
"It is yet more evidence that the traffic camera program is a program that we don't need," said House Minority Floor Leader Charles Djou (R, Kaneohe).
After the first contested traffic camera citations were thrown out by two District Court judges yesterday, Gov. Ben Cayetano announced the program would be put on hold, to give the state time to address concerns raised in court.
State Transportation Director Brian Minaai said the camera vans would be removed from the highways, but would be back as soon as a judge approves new information being added to the defective photo citations. He said that could come as soon as today.
Cayetano agreed that the court dismissals are another hurdle for those who want to save the program. But he still believes "it can be fixed and we should try to fix it because we know it does reduce speeding. And if you can fix it, fine. If you can't, then you should take appropriate action. But on the mainland, this is used in many, many jurisdictions so I'm not sure why you have to reinvent the wheel."
Last night, the House Finance Committee deferred action on a bill to modify the photo citation program. Minaai testified the DOT favors changing a photo citation from a moving to a non-moving violation, similar to a parking citation.
The violation would not appear on a traffic abstract and would not be subject to insurance premium increases, he said. However, speeding citations issued by police should continue to be recorded as moving violations, he said.
In the Legislature, however, support was dwindling.
Senate Transportation Chairman Cal Kawamoto (D, Waipahu), who's been a key supporter, said that he was assured by the camera vendor that the program would pass legal muster. "I'm disappointed that they said everything is going to be OK, but it's not," Kawamoto said. "I'm in favor of looking at another way of resolving the concerns."
The first legislative floor debate of the traffic camera program took place yesterday, with the Senate voting 12-12 on two resolutions, authored by Kawamoto, asking the DOT to adjust the program. A resolution has no force of law, but it would have given the DOT time to stave off the threatened repeal. Without a majority of 13, both resolutions failed.
Many who voted in favor of the resolutions generally support keeping the program for now, but agreed that changes are needed.
"Perhaps maybe we should stop this effort but at the same time think how we can make it better," Senate President Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa), who voted for the resolutions, said afterward. "If we can have a program that makes sense ... and is within the law, I think we should have" the program.
Bunda said that he does not think the judges' rulings will kill the program. "I think (yesterday's) court action was merely technical."
Those who voted against the measures -- including the Senate's three Republicans -- want the program scrapped.
Sen. Ron Menor (D, Mililani) the only senator not present because of a bad cold, said he would have voted against the resolutions, which he called "virtually meaningless."
Both Djou and Hanabusa said that repealing the traffic camera law is the only solution.
"You've got to repeal it, sit back, give it another year or so if you really want to do it and work out all these kinks," said Hanabusa. "Do the law right, don't try to do all this fixing. ... Every time they tweak it, it causes a worse situation."
While the unpopular traffic cameras have many opponents in the state Legislature this year, the law creating the program passed nearly unanimously in 1998, as did refinements to it in 1999 and 2000.
Reporter Rosemarie Bernardo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.