Email Erin Miller at emiller@westhawaiitoday.com.
By ERIN MILLER
Stephens Media
Bills that would allow red light- and speed-enforcement cameras got the House Finance Committee’s approval Friday afternoon.
Maui Rep. Joseph Souki introduced the measures, House Bill 2789, permitting cameras to detect speeding vehicles, and House Bill 2790 to detect drivers running red lights.
The Finance Committee hearing was expected to continue until late Friday evening. The committee chairman and vice chairwoman were unable to respond to messages left Friday afternoon.
Souki said he’s tried to introduce the bills at least two or three times before. He’s heard the arguments against the cameras, particularly that they can violate drivers’ privacy, he said.
“I think saving a life is more important,” he said.
Municipalities across the country, most notably Los Angeles, have decided in the last year to end their red light camera programs. City councils have noted residents’ opposition and the difficulty in collecting fines as reasons to cease using the cameras.
“Money should not be the consideration” in deciding whether to have a program to issue traffic citations, Souki said.
The bills’ introductions noted several purported benefits to the laws, including freeing up police officers from traffic enforcement duties and reducing collisions and traffic fatalities.
The Hawaii Police Department has not taken a position on either bill, Maj. Sam Thomas said.
No other police departments provided supportive testimony, either, Souki said. That’s disappointing, he added.
“It would save lives,” he said. “Their job is to keep people safe on the highways.”
Counties would have the option to run the program, with fines then being returned to the counties, Souki.
Most of the written testimony for earlier committee hearings was supportive of the measure.
But one Hawaii resident, who did not provide his address with his testimony, submitted nearly four pages of argument against such cameras.
“Highway cameras are a poor substitute for police officers who can immediately defuse a possible catastrophe down the roadway by pulling over a racing motorist or one who is driving carelessly,” Milton Imada wrote. “The officers can also identify alcohol and drug abuse or a (medical) emergency. Cameras will never replace police presence on the highways or roadways.”
Imada also noted that motorcyclists may avoid the penalties by wearing a face-obscuring helmet, and by virtue of not having front license plates on motorcycles. Other concerns included depriving motorists of the leeway some police officers give, taking into account changes in the roadway, and the potential for improper calibration of a vehicle’s speedometer, Imada wrote.
Hawaii’s version of the red light camera bill notes that no summons or citation shall be issued, “unless it contains a clear and unobstructed photographic, digital or other visual image of the driver of the motor vehicle.”
Email Erin Miller at emiller@westhawaiitoday.com.