Bills focus on cameras to cite speeding drivers

Feb. 8—Speeders on Hawaii highways could be receiving tickets linked to automated cameras if a drive by many state lawmakers this year is successful.

Speeders on Hawaii highways could be receiving tickets linked to automated cameras if a drive by many state lawmakers this year is successful.

A bill proposing a traffic enforcement system using cameras at fixed locations with posted warning signs and possibly managed by private contractors was advanced Tuesday by an initial House of Representatives committee and is scheduled for a second public hearing Friday.

The measure, House Bill 2267, was introduced in January by a bipartisan group of 16 House members, and is expected to generate fresh debate pitting traffic safety versus accusations of overzealous speed-limit enforcement with monetary motivation, more than 20 years after a public outcry helped shut down a controversial "van cam " traffic enforcement program after three months of operation.

HB 2267 proclaims that "the prevalence of drivers who violate Hawaii's traffic laws is intolerable, particularly drivers who speed. This dangerous behavior puts the lives of all of Hawaii's roadway users at risk."

The bill aims to reduce motor vehicle crashes and fatalities by augmenting traditional police enforcement, or adding enforcement to places where traffic stops are impractical or unsafe. Cameras on poles or other fixed structures would record speed and photograph license plates, resulting in tickets being sent to registered owners of motor vehicles recorded by the system as speeding.

The state Department of Transportation, which backs the bill, said in written testimony that speeding was a major contributing factor in half of the 95 Hawaii motor vehicle fatalities in 2023.

"Speeding has always been one of the top contributing factors in motor vehicle fatalities for the past decade, " the department said. "This program is necessary to reduce these senseless deaths and injuries on Hawaii's roadways."

Rep. Linda Ichiyama (D, Fort Shafter Flats-Salt Lake-Pearl Harbor ) led 15 colleagues, including two Republicans, introducing the bill.

Ichiyama said several constituents in her district concerned with speeding requested the legislation.

"We have high traffic areas in my district where speeding has been a constant challenge, " she said in an email. "This gives law enforcement an additional tool to encourage safe driving. I hope that the bill will continue to move forward this session."

The House Transportation Committee on Tuesday advanced HB 2267 in a 7-0 vote. Committee Chair Rep. Chris Todd (D, Hilo ­-Keaau-Ainaloa ) and Vice Chair Rep. Darius Kila (D, Nanakuli-Maili ) are co ­-introducers of the bill.

On Friday, the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the measure at 2 p.m.

Testimony offered on the bill for its initial hearing held Feb. 1 was light.

Support came from DOT, the Honolulu Police Department, the Disability and Communication Access Board and Washington, D.C.-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

The state Judiciary offered comments that included a request for more staffing to handle citations and trials, and suggested that the program begin in 2026 instead of Jan. 1, 2025 to coordinate the program's operation if the bill becomes law. The state Department of Budget and Finance also offered comments.

A companion measure, Senate Bill 2443, was introduced by four senators led by Sen. Brandon Elefante but hasn't been scheduled for a hearing.

Elefante (D, Aiea-Pacific Palisades-Pearl City ) said many of his constituents are seeking more ways to curb speeding, including speed humps and camera-based enforcement.

In one week last month, Elefante said police issued 147 citations and made 42 arrests for excessive speeding in his district.

"This is a way to reduce the amount of speeding, " he said about the program proposed in the bill.

Elefante said he believes public sentiment and technology have changed substantially since the 2002 "van cam " program triggered massive blowback not only from the general public but also from lawmakers.

Yet some of the same criticisms of the 2002 program could apply to what is proposed in HB 2267 and SB 2443.

"It's not about safety. It's a money grab, " said Pat McPherson, a local attorney who successfully defended drivers who were ticketed under the 2002 program and describes the pending legislation as a flawed attempt to make driving safer.

McPherson said the proposed system will in some cases punish car owners who weren't driving, and produce tickets for scores of people who were driving with a safe flow of traffic that exceeded speed limits but not excessively.

"They're going to give tickets to commuters, " he said. "Why don't we actually put something into effect where we can identify problem drivers and get them off the road ?"

The 2002 program, which originated from a state law created in 1998 and modified in 2000, was supposed to be a three-year statewide pilot project involving operators of laser-equipped cameras stationed in roadside vans to ticket speeders and red-light runners. But it lasted only three months on Oahu.

In its first two days of operation, the program yielded 1, 557 speeding citations, compared with an average 100 daily citations by police for a variety of traffic offenses.

Before it was canceled, the program produced 18, 954 citations. Most of them were dismissed because the Judiciary wasn't pursuing fines for exceeding the speed limit by less than 10 mph even though DOT was allowing citations for driving at least 6 mph over the limit. Other citations were dismissed for different reasons, including a lack of citation documentation.

DOT officials at the time claimed that major and minor vehicle crashes declined by 10 % to 15 % in districts where van cams were used during the program's first month.

"There is very strong evidence that the photo enforcement program is working, " then-DOT Director Brian Minaai said at the time. "The slower speeds have definitely contributed to this decline in crashes."

Program critics countered that information wasn't presented on how many crashes in the compared periods involved speeding, and noted that the number of fatal traffic crashes statewide had increased.

"Just because accidents are down for 30 days doesn't prove anything or automatically make it a good program, " said then-Rep. Charles Djou, a Republican whose district at the time included Kahaluu and Kaneohe.

Minaai later said there were no traffic fatalities on state roads during the program's whole short-lived existence, and claimed a silent majority of Hawaii residents supported the program that effectively slowed down many drivers.

Another state lawmaker at the time, Bob Hogue, a Republican in the Senate representing Windward Oahu, urged DOT during the program's first month of operation to quit camera enforcement on the Pali and Likelike highways.

"I'm all for safety too, but I'm adamantly against these cameras, " Hogue said during a Senate briefing in January 2002. "The only thing they demonstrate is the arrogance of the Department of Transportation."

After the state Senate and House voted unanimously to repeal the program, then-Gov. Ben Cayetano had camera operations shut down April 10, 2002.

The contractor operating the program, ACS State and Local Solutions, had billed the state $321, 000 for its three months of work.

Under the new proposed program, the state or any county would be able to establish a speed camera program on state or county highways using a third-party contractor.

Proceeds from monetary fines would go into a special DOT fund to cover program expenses.

The pending bills don't specify a threshold for citing owners of speeding vehicles, but do add extra fines of $10 for going at least 10 mph over the speed limit and a $250 fine for going at least 30 mph over a limit or at least 80 mph.

The pending bills also propose to increase the maximum fine for a first red-light offense to $250 from $200 under a program that began in late 2022 after being enabled by legislation in 2017.

This automated red-light camera program is a two-year pilot project operating at 10 intersections on Oahu, and had produced about 13, 500 citations in its first not-quite-full year of operations.