Honolulu Star-Bulletin Hawaii News A year after public outcry forced lawmakers to scuttle the state's much-maligned traffic camera enforcement system to catch speeders, one aspect of the program could be on its way back to Hawaii streets. Traffic-light cameras
might be restored
Bill may put gambling to vote
Democrats propose tax credits for new jobs
By B.J. Reyes
Associated PressLawmakers in the House and Senate introduced bills yesterday that would revive the red-light enforcement portion of the project.
"I think it's timely because of all of the pedestrian accidents that we have," said House Transportation Chairman Joe Souki (D, Waihee-Wailuku), who introduced the measure in the House.
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Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, one of the harshest critics of the so-called "van cams," said her main concern is how the program would be implemented. "I am very cautious about it because I do not want to see the people of the state go through what we went through with the van cams," said Hanabusa (D, Nanakuli-Makua).
The three-year traffic camera pilot program was introduced on Oahu last January and quickly became a lightning rod of public scorn and ridicule.
It involved a private vendor using cameras mounted in vans parked along highways and coupled with laser radar to automatically photograph a speeder's license plate. A ticket was then mailed to the car's owner.
While several states use the cameras for red-light enforcement and limited patrolling for speeders, Hawaii was the first state to pass a statewide law allowing photo-enforced radar along state roads.
Critics called the program unconstitutional, an invasion of privacy and unreliable because it assumed that the vehicle's owner was behind the wheel. Dozens of citations were thrown out in court because of technicalities.
By April, lawmakers had decided to repeal the law creating the program, and then-Gov. Ben Cayetano ordered the state Department of Transportation to halt the program and let the repeal take affect.
Red-light enforcement, in which cameras would capture red-light runners and mail them a ticket, was part of the original proposal but became moot once the program was repealed.
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