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65 mph limit Gov. Ben Cayetano said the failed traffic camera project to stop excessive speeding has prompted the state to look at raising speed limits this summer on the H-3 freeway and a portion of the H-1 freeway in Leeward Oahu.
might return
The governor asks transportation
Judge determines handling of photo tickets
officials to review highway speedsBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comIt was among the lessons learned after the troubled traffic camera project was repealed this week by the state Legislature. The repeal prompted Cayetano to pull the traffic camera vans off the road, saying motorists should not be ticketed anymore if lawmakers want to kill the program.
"I think that there were missteps along the way," Cayetano said. "Certainly, from the state's standpoint, perhaps a greater community preparation would have helped a little bit."
The governor said yesterday he asked the Transportation Department to review the speed limits on highways, which was an issue raised by motorists when the traffic cameras began enforcing the 55 mph speed limit in January.
Cayetano said state studies show 85 percent of freeway drivers exceed the speed limit to some degree. Hawaii freeway speed limits were set at 65 mph in past years, but the state lowered them to comply with federal requirements, he said.
The governor said he may raise the speed limits on certain highways this summer through administrative rule changes.
He said the Transportation Department, state District Court judges and state lawmakers are to blame for the problems that led to the shutdown of the state's photo traffic enforcement project.
In recapping what he thought went wrong, the governor continued to blame District Court judges who, while hearing cases, said there was a commonly accepted speeding threshold.
The judges, in dismissing speeding tickets that were 10 mph or less over the speed limit, essentially said it was OK to speed as long as it was within that threshold, Cayetano said.
"And somebody has to answer for that, and I think these judges should be held accountable," said Cayetano, who added he believed it was probably a breach of judicial ethics.
Cayetano also criticized the state Legislature for not thoroughly reviewing the plan in 1998, when it was passed, as well as for buckling under public pressure once it started. Instead, legislators should have first tried to fix it.
If anyone should be fired for this fiasco, he said, it should be lawmakers who voted for this measure but bailed out as soon "as things got hot." He declined to identify which legislators.
Finally, the governor said he believes the project would have moved forward if the state had taken legal steps to ensure the tickets issued were akin to parking tickets, so citations would not affect auto insurance. "So it's kind of a sorry episode, but it's over and it's time to move on," Cayetano said.
Senate leaders, however, said the issue is not dead yet.
Senate Transportation Chairman Cal Kawamoto (D, Waipahu) said he believes the red-light portion of the project should be saved because it did not come under any legal challenges.
That portion of the contract with Affiliated Computer Services, the vendor that operated the traffic vans, would have ticketed those who run red lights via fixed automated cameras at key intersections.
Senate President Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa) said yesterday that while there is support for it, the remaining time this session should be focused on the budget.
"The traffic cam issue has been talked about, debated, and after all of the debate and after all of what we had found, there's no doubt in my mind that that project has a lot of problems associated with it," Bunda said.
"Let us repeal, and let us try to find something that could take its place, if we could. But between now and the next session, we should actually look at how to strengthen the program. If we can't, then so be it," he said.
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State judges have taken different actions on photo speeding citations since the city prosecutor's office announced it will seek dismissals of all challenges scheduled for trial. How photo tickets are
handled depends on judgeBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comOn Thursday, the day the prosecutor's office made the announcement, judges presiding over the noncriminal traffic hearings in Honolulu and Wahiawa district courts dismissed the citations of all the people who challenged their tickets either in writing or in person. The judges entered default judgments against people who failed to respond.
State Judiciary staff attorney Susan Gochros could not confirm that it was the intention of the judges to dismiss the cases of those who showed up to challenge their tickets, "But it seems to me that is what happened (Thursday)."
Yesterday, per-diem Judge Michael Mar dismissed only those citations issued for speeding less than 10 miles over the posted speed limit. People whose citations were not dismissed who wished to challenge their tickets were assigned a trial date.
Mar also warned drivers that if the speeding infraction occurred in a school or residential zone, the under-10 mph rule for dismissal may not apply. If a citation is for excessively exceeding the posted speed limit, Mar said he may also be inclined to revoke the driver's license.
The prosecutor's decision to seek dismissals of photo citations assigned to trial was in response to a court ruling that forces prosecutors to prove who was driving the speeding vehicle.
On Wednesday, Gov. Ben Cayetano ordered the state Department of Transportation to terminate the Photo Traffic Enforcement Program. The following day, the state House voted to repeal the program.
But because the repeal is not retroactive and citations issued before Wednesday are still working their way through the legal system, the state Judiciary is urging people not to ignore their citations.
If people fail to respond to the summons either in writing or in person, they face receiving a default judgment against them.