Hawaii’s road regulations have been frustratingly slow to evolve, much to the detriment of public safety. But with pedestrian and driver deaths on the rise, the state Legislature is homing in on a plan to roll out automated speed enforcement cameras in traffic hot spots. This change cannot come soon enough.
Senate Bill 2443 paves a path toward the installation of speed cameras at fixed locations along roadways where police traffic stops are impractical or unsafe. In a recent version of the bill, this translates to piggybacking on the state’s red-light-running camera pilot program, which is already in operation at 10 Honolulu intersections. The desired effect: Vehicles will be forced to slow down when traveling through areas with high levels of foot traffic.
The proposal has been narrowed significantly from an original plan that imagined an open coverage area on state and county highways. Revisions brought that working region down to at least one school or work zone in each county, then to restricted installation only at locations already fitted with a red-light camera. Given that pilot project’s status, the stipulation effectively limits speed cameras to metro Honolulu for 2024.
That strategy is understandable considering prerequisite traffic studies, infrastructure adjustments, and the intrinsic relationship between red-light and speeding infractions. A more aggressive approach would be preferable, but the current tack is acceptable if it placates a driving public largely opposed to automated traffic enforcement.
Like red-light cameras, Hawaii is choosing to dip its toe in the waters of automated speed enforcement rather than jump in head first. It is a compromise, but a necessary one that ultimately nudges traffic laws in the right direction.
Of utmost importance are more strident efforts to slow vehicles within school zones — after all, that was an original impetus behind SB 2443. Tragedies like the hit-and-run death of McKinley High School student Sara Yara must not be repeated, and speed cameras should be part of that response.
Lessons were learned from the “van cam” debacle of the early 2000s — the state’s first attempt at automated speed enforcement. Public outrage quickly quashed the private contractor-led effort that generated a whopping 1,557 speeding citations over its first two days in operation. A total of 18,954 citations were issued during that first foray, many of which were later dismissed because the Judiciary wasn’t interested in chasing fines against speeders who exceeded posted signage by less than 10 mph. At the time, the state Department of Transportation gave the OK to cite drivers traveling at least 6 mph over the limit, but there is no indication that will be the case with static speed cams.
Under the enforcement structure outlined in SB 2443, a maximum fine of $250 will be doled out to drivers exceeding posted limits by 30 mph or more — or those traveling 80 mph, regardless of an area’s maximum speed limit. The bill also allows for that same sum to be applied to red-light camera infractions, up from the current $200 per incident.
Threatening wallets is a widely accepted deterrent to most minor offenses, but a dearth of police officers means traffic enforcement is scattershot — and in some locales, ineffective. It is a troubling pattern with negative implications for a public transitioning to multimodal transportation. Nowhere is that more clear than traffic-related pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities. The Department of Transportation in December noted a record nine bicyclist deaths across 2023. And just this past Sunday, two bicyclists in Ewa Beach were killed after being struck by a 20-year-old driver who lost control of his vehicle. Police suspect speed was a factor in the fatal collision.
The goal here is to crack down on speeding — so lawmakers should expedite passage of SB 2443 without further dilution, no matter how vigorous the opposition. The safety of our road-going public depends on it.
