Speed camera program stalls again at legislature

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state senate has killed a bill that would have expanded photo enforcement statewide, including speed cameras and photo enforcement of car registration.

Senate Transportation Chair Lorraine Inouye said the bill included too many traffic measures, including higher penalties for racing, using cameras to check for expired registrations, and cameras on school buses to catch illegal passing.

“Our colleagues are saying, oh, my God, this is a Christmas tree bill,” Inouye said. “And I’d like to make sure that people understand what we’re talking about is that there are too many items.”

The decision means significant expansion of the speed camera program is not likely to happen for another year.

Limited results from pilot program

Cameras at 10 intersections, all in urban Honolulu, have issued citations to only a couple dozen extreme speeders.

The current red light and speed enforcement is restricted to those intersections that had red light cameras installed in 2022 as a pilot program. Sworn police officers must review every ticket, and courts feared being overwhelmed.

The state set a high threshold to issue tickets because few police officers were available to review cases and there was concern about overwhelming traffic courts. The average speed for citations was nearly 25 miles over the 25 and 30 mile-per-hour limits. That happened most often at two intersections — eight times at Pali and School and five at Beretania and Piikoi.

The limited program issued only 22 speeding citations between December 2025 and February 2026. Only seven have led to successful prosecutions and fines, usually around $200. Three were dismissed, seven have been ignored by car owners who were mailed citations, and five didn’t have clear outcomes in court records.

State Transportation Director Ed Sniffen said the department wants to expand responsibly.

“We’re looking at making sure that we expand responsibly to ensure that judiciary and law enforcement all have the resources necessary to keep up with the number of citations that could come through,” Sniffen said.

Sniffen said the pilot program showed reductions in speed and red light running.

“We’re making sure that we cite those that we’re targeting, that are the dangerous drivers right now,” he said.

House Transportation Chair Darius Kila said the bill’s failure was a setback.

“Unfortunately, I think there were some concerns in the Senate chamber,” Kila said. “So as of this session, the bill to look to expand the safety program that would have expanded it based on data, not just proliferation or selection, is unfortunately not moving at the moment.”

Kila said law enforcement cannot be everywhere and called the decision another setback in trying to make roads safer.

Supporters of photo speed enforcement have not given up. The legislature still has three weeks remaining, giving lawmakers a chance to find a compromise.