These are the first 2 intersections on Oahu getting red light cameras
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Hawaii Transportation Department on Tuesday unveiled the first two locations in Honolulu where red light cameras will be installed as part of a two-year pilot program.
Those locations include:
- Vineyard Boulevard at Palama Street
- Vineyard Boulevard at Liliha Street
Ed Sniffen, the deputy director of DOT Highways Division, said the goal is to start changing behaviors and reduce speeds in those areas.
“What we want to do is make sure first we take care of the red-light running and second, potentially, adjust that speed that everybody is going through this community in,” Sniffen said.
He said that at the Liliha location, there were 20 major crashes in the last five years. Five of them were due to drivers running red lights.
At the Palama site, he noted many drivers are coming right off the freeway. When DOT officials started baseline data collection, they saw at least 10 drivers running red lights.
Sniffen said it could take about two to three weeks before the system is up and running for those two locations.
The state previously said the cameras will be installed at 10 busy intersections as part of the two-year pilot aimed at reducing recklessness on the roads. Locations that were being considered included Likelike and Pali highways.
The proposed intersections include:
- Likelike Highway and School Street
- Vineyard Boulevard and Palama Street
- Vineyard Boulevard and Liliha Street
- King Street and River Street
- North King Street and Berentania Street
- Pali Highway and Vineyard Boulevard
- Pali Highway and School Street
- King Street and Ward Avenue
- Kapiolani Boulevard and Kamakee Street
- Berentania Street and Piikoi Street
“The key here is safety,” said Jon Nouchi, Honolulu Department of Transportation Services Deputy Director. “We want to make sure that every intersection ... we want to make sure that those are, we can make those as as safe as we can right now.”
Under state’s new red light camera program, tickets will follow car owners not drivers
Images of potential red light runners, will be screened before police determine whether to issue a citation. The system will capture license plates and not drivers’ images due to privacy concerns.
The state also says regardless of who is driving, the responsibility of the citation falls on the vehicle’s registered owner.
The first-time fine: Up to $200.
Once the system is operational, for the first 30 days, violators will receive a warning before citations are actually given out.
“Our overall hope for this program is to ensure that we put up this instrumentation so that there’s a permanent blue light here,” Sniffen said. “We all know that our driving behavior in the communities change tremendously when there’s a police officer in the corner.”
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