Police will adjust
speeders’ chargesDrivers caught breaking the
speed limit will soon be charged
with reckless endangerment
Honolulu police, frustrated by state lawmakers' failure to criminalize speeding offenses, will attempt to charge speeders with reckless driving to crack down on the number of traffic deaths on Oahu.
CORRECTION
Tuesday, April 27, 2003>> Honolulu police officers will attempt to charge speeders with reckless driving. A secondary headline on Page A1 yesterday incorrectly said the charge would be reckless endangerment.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com."As long as you can prove that this guy was speeding and there were other occupants on the road where they were placed in danger, then we are going to try to make reckless-driving charges stick," said Capt. Jose Gaytan, of the Honolulu Police Department Traffic Division.
Persons found guilty of reckless driving face penalties similar to those for a petty misdemeanor: a fine no greater than $1,000, up to 30 days in prison or both.
Gaytan said Friday that HPD was pushing bills in the Legislature that would have made excessive speeding a petty misdemeanor. The bills defined excessive speeding as traveling at least 80 mph, or 25 mph or more over the speed limit.
However, lawmakers failed to advance any bill that would have made speeding a crime.
"I guess they have to make a choice between that and what they are seeing on the roadways," Gaytan said. "We have to do whatever we can with whatever we already have."
House Transportation Chairman Joe Souki (D, Kahakuloa-Kahului) expressed disappointment that there is only one bill still alive in the Legislature to increase the penalties for speeding.
"And the cameras is just about dead," Souki said in reference to his proposal to allow the counties to operate fixed cameras to catch speeders and red-light runners.
The bill still alive, House Bill 1770, CD1, would allow judges to revoke the licenses of drivers caught speeding over 90 mph. The revocation can last up to five years. Lawmakers are expected to give the bill final approval next week.
When he was reminded that violators can avoid having their cases brought before a judge by paying their fine on time, Souki sarcastically replied, "Good bill, that."
But he remains hopeful that more can be done.
"It's not over yet. A lot of things can happen between now and the end of the session," Souki said.
There have been a number of major traffic accidents caused by speeding on Oahu recently:
» On Feb. 13, three Schofield Barracks soldiers and a Safety Systems Hawaii worker were killed when two speeding cars slammed into the rear of a flatbed truck in a fiery crash on the H-1 freeway by the Waipahu offramp.» On April 16, Oahu residents Mary Filimoehala, 18, and 13-year-old Sosifa Naulu, and New Zealand resident Winnie Naulu, 26, died in the crash of a sport utility vehicle into the Wilson Tunnel entrance on the Likelike Highway. They were rushing to the wedding rehearsal of a relative.
