As part of the state Department of Transportation’s red light safety program, ten red light cameras will be installed at various Honolulu intersections by March.
The cameras are connected to roadside censors. The system will take a picture of the vehicle’s license plate and fine the driver if they cross the stop line while the light is red.
Red light surveillance at Palama St. and Citations are already being issued on Vineyard Boulevard. at Liliha Street, a second camera. and Beginning in December, Vineyard Blvd. will issue tickets. 9.
Citations cost $97 for the first offense and up to $200 for subsequent red light violations.
DOT reported that more than 200 warnings were sent out from the Palama St. intersection between from the beginning of late October to mid-November.
Prior to the installation of the cameras, there were an average of 11 red light runnings per day, according to DOT Deputy Director of Highways Ed Sniffen.
Sniffen explains, “You will be fined if you cross that line one tenth of a second after the light turns red.”
Some claim that this is happening too quickly. Engineer Brian Ceccarelli is the owner of Talus Software based in North Carolina and operates the website “Red Light Robber.”
“Because it’s impossible to tell by looking, police officers would never issue these people a ticket. So technically these people are running red lights, but only if you have the reflexes of a computer can you tell,” explained Ceccarelli.
According to Ceccarelli, the yellow lights at most intersections are too brief, which compels drivers to proceed through a red light.
“The only way to ensure that you never run a red light is to be aware of the precise location of the 300-foot comfortable stopping distance. The problem is, is that you and I and every driver on the road do not know exactly where 300 feet is on the intersection,” said Ceccarelli.
According to him, yellow lights on a road with a 25 mph speed limit must be on for 4.8 seconds, and in Hawaii, they are on for three to four seconds.
Cameras have decreased fatal red-light collisions in the United States by 21%, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Vice President of Research at IIHS Jessica Cicchino stated, “Because they increase the likelihood that they will be caught if they run a red light, well-publicized camera programs deter would-be offenders from taking the chance that they will be caught.”
Although she acknowledges that red light cameras can make drivers slam on their brakes and increase rear-end collisions, she claimed that the cameras are most effective at preventing fatalities.
“The most serious collisions are those that involve a head-on collision or side-impact damage. So sometimes you do see a tradeoff between some of the lower severity crashes going up and preventing some of those higher severity crashes,” Cicchino said.
Ceccarelli disagrees, an engineer. He contends that since poor traffic engineering is responsible for 90% of red-light runnings, it is unfair to penalize drivers financially.
To make roads safer, he suggests extending the so-called all-red clearance interval.
“There is a moment when red is visible in all directions. Everybody sees red to allow any late arriving traffic to clear the intersection,” Ceccarelli explained. “If you lengthen it by just one eighth of a second of all red, crashes will drop by half.”
Because the system accuses the offender of breaking both criminal and civil law without a standing party, red light camera critics claim the technology is unconstitutional. They contend that it is unconstitutional because no one can be sued in court if no one is hurt and the owner of the vehicle receives a ticket from a camera.
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Source: Hawaiipublicradio
