Traffic bills aimed at braking highway racing and preventing pedestrian accidents hit a dead end yesterday in a legislative conference committee. Panel applies brakes
to traffic billsVehicle forfeiture is the sticking
point on a street racing billBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.comThe bills' main sponsor, Senate Transportation Chairman Cal Kawamoto, lamented that he believed the measures died because the House was unwilling to take a tougher position.
"All we're trying to do is provide safety," said Kawamoto (D, Waipahu). "But if it's a little inconvenience, the House doesn't want to do it."
But House Judiciary Chairman Eric Hamakawa (D, South Hilo) countered that the House came up with "pretty good" measures, and it was the Senate's call on whether the bills would advance.
"I guess, again, it's up to the Senate," Hamakawa said. "It's really the Senate's decision on what to do with the bill."
The main stickler on the racing bill was Kawamoto's insistence that violators forfeit their vehicles upon a third offense.
"You've got to grab the guy's car. You've got to teach him a lesson," Kawamoto said.
Hamakawa said House members agreed with Kawamoto that they do not want people to speed, but he said they are worried that a car belonging to someone other than the driver may end up being confiscated.
"I believe we have a pretty good bill before us. It provides for penalties; it provides for escalating penalties for repeat offenders," Hamakawa said. "The only thing we disagree on is the forfeiture provision."
Kawamoto said the House's version of the bill was not tough enough, and he wanted to provide police with the tools they requested to stop street drag racing and other problems.
"If it's individual rights, fine, but if it's individual rights and it harms other people, then you lose that stake in whatever you do when you harm other people, and that's what we're saying," Kawamoto said.
Kawamoto said he was disappointed that the racing bill did not make it out of conference in light of a highly publicized racing-related traffic accident.
Elizabeth Kekoa, 58, was killed in August when the van she was riding in was struck from behind by an 18-year-old man who police said lost control of his car while racing at 100 mph on the H-1 freeway.
"We had promised the families that had gotten into the accident that we would do this," Kawamoto said. "But out of mind, out of sight -- that hasn't carried over to this year."
On the pedestrian bill, the House and Senate disagreed on what pedestrians should be required to do to prevent an accident.
The House version mandated that drivers yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and prohibited jaywalking when there is an intersection or crosswalk nearby. The Senate version called for pedestrians to look for a break in traffic, then try to make eye contact with drivers and point to the crosswalk with their arms at 45 degrees before crossing.
"We asking the pedestrians to look, ensure there's a break in traffic, ensure there's eye contact with the other driver because you may be right that you're in the crosswalk, but you may be dead," Kawamoto said.
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