REPORT TITLE:
Red light/Speed Imaging


DESCRIPTION:
Extends length of the three-year photo red light imaging and
photo speed imaging detector demonstration project for four more
years.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                     
                                                        1759
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Act 234, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, is amended
 
 2 as follows:
 
 3      1.  By amending section 1 to read:
 
 4      "SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that traffic violations
 
 5 in Hawaii, especially on the island of Oahu, have become
 
 6 intolerable, particularly the offenses of speeding and running
 
 7 red lights.  Both of these violations endanger the lives of
 
 8 residents and compound the already hazardous conditions for both
 
 9 pedestrians and motorists on Hawaii's roads and highways.  News
 
10 items are increasingly common that describe hit-and-run drivers
 
11 who have run over small children or the elderly, both inside and
 
12 outside crosswalks, who may not be able to react quickly enough
 
13 to a racing drunk driver or someone speeding through an
 
14 intersection after the light has already turned red.
 
15      The legislature further finds that two recent technological
 
16 innovations that address the hazards caused by speeding and
 
17 disregarding red lights have already been in place and
 
18 demonstrated their reliability and effectiveness in other
 
19 jurisdictions--namely, photo speed imaging detector and photo red
 
20 light imaging systems.  The legislature finds that these
 

 
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 1 innovations--both of which are completely automated--are
 
 2 appropriate for Hawaii's increasingly deteriorating traffic
 
 3 conditions, and are capable of safely and efficiently diffusing
 
 4 dangerous traffic control problems while at the same time freeing
 
 5 up police officers to handle more pressing problems.
 
 6      The photo speed imaging detector system is a unit that
 
 7 mounts in a sport utility vehicle or van that detects,
 
 8 photographs, and records information on speeders.  A vehicle with
 
 9 the speed detector unit is parked at the roadside and monitors
 
10 the speeds of passing motorists, and is linked to a controlled
 
11 console with a central processor and speed display.  When a
 
12 vehicle exceeding a preset threshold enters the beam of the speed
 
13 detector, a high resolution camera photographs the front of the
 
14 vehicle, capturing the front license plate, while a second camera
 
15 photographs the rear of the vehicle.  The scene is lit by a
 
16 powerful strobe flash for evidentiary quality images.  Tickets
 
17 are processed automatically, so there is no need for an officer
 
18 to make a stop and issue a ticket.  In addition, since the
 
19 violator's face and license plate are on record, compliance rates
 
20 are considerably higher than with officer-generated tickets.
 
21      The legislature finds that a photo speed imaging detector
 
22 system is safe, quick, cost-effective, and efficient.  With no
 
23 stop involved, the officer is not at risk from passing traffic or
 

 
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 1 armed violators.  Moreover, while a motivated traffic officer may
 
 2 average fifteen or twenty tickets per shift, the photo speed
 
 3 imaging detector system can write two tickets per second.
 
 4      The photo speed imaging detector system is essentially a
 
 5 turnkey operation; all of the equipment, including a fully-
 
 6 outfitted police vehicle, speed detector systems, printer, film
 
 7 or image processing, and all supplies, as well as officer
 
 8 training, are provided by a private company.  The private company
 
 9 identifies vehicle owners, prints and mails tickets, monitors
 
10 compliance, and makes regular status reports.  The company also
 
11 charges a small fee per paid ticket, while the violator pays for
 
12 everything else.
 
13      In addition, only one officer using the photo speed imaging
 
14 detector system can be as productive, if only in terms of numbers
 
15 of traffic tickets issued, as an entire traffic division.
 
16 Officers can be assigned higher priority duties, while the system
 
17 handles speed enforcement.  Finally, these systems have proven
 
18 their reliability for over twenty years in police departments in
 
19 countries around the world.
 
20      The second major innovation is the photo red light imaging
 
21 system.  In this system, a camera is positioned at intersections
 
22 where red light violations are a major cause of collisions.
 
23 Rather than placing an officer at the intersection full-time, the
 

 
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 1 red light camera serves as a twenty-four hour deterrent to
 
 2 running a red light.  Sensors are buried under a crosswalk
 
 3 leading to a self-contained camera system that is mounted on a
 
 4 nearby pole.  When a vehicle enters the intersection against a
 
 5 red light, the camera takes a telephoto color picture of the rear
 
 6 of the car as it rolls over the stop bar, capturing the rear
 
 7 license plate as evidence.  A second wide-angle photograph takes
 
 8 in the entire intersection, including other traffic.
 
 9      A sign may be posted at the intersection indicating that it
 
10 is a photo-monitored intersection; however, the camera can be
 
11 moved to different poles or intersections that are equipped to
 
12 hold the camera, so that motorists do not know when they are
 
13 being photographed.  As with the photo speed imaging detector
 
14 system, the private company that supplies the red light camera
 
15 also processes the film, accesses motor vehicle records, checks
 
16 the license plate against registration records, and mails out
 
17 citations.
 
18      The legislature finds that the photo red light imaging
 
19 system, like the photo speed imaging detector system, also has
 
20 numerous benefits.  As with the photo speed imaging detector
 
21 system, not only are streets safer after the implementation of
 
22 the system, but police officers are freed from time-consuming
 
23 traffic stops and have more time to make priority calls.  A
 

 
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 1 violator is less likely to go to court, since the color
 
 2 photograph of the violation in progress can be used as evidence
 
 3 in court.  Imprinted on the photograph are the time, date, and
 
 4 location of the violation; the number of seconds the light had
 
 5 been red before the violator entered the intersection; and the
 
 6 violator's speed.  Few cases are contested in other jurisdictions
 
 7 using this system, and officers make fewer court appearances,
 
 8 resulting in cost savings.
 
 9      The legislature realizes that Hawaii's prior conversion to
 
10 administrative adjudication of traffic offenses has eliminated
 
11 the need for police officers to testify in most cases.  However,
 
12 to the extent that fewer citations are actually contested, cost
 
13 savings will be realized and contested cases will receive a
 
14 faster hearing.  More importantly, compliance with traffic laws
 
15 has generally increased in those jurisdictions; installation of
 
16 this type of system has had an immediate effect on the behavior
 
17 of drivers and has nearly eliminated violations in other
 
18 jurisdictions.
 
19      The legislature finds that the implementation of both photo
 
20 speed imaging detector and photo red light imaging systems will
 
21 result in an increase in driver awareness leading to a reduction
 
22 in traffic speeds and red light violations, and may also result
 
23 in lower insurance costs for safe drivers with an overall
 

 
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 1 reduction in crashes and injuries.  Moreover, these programs
 
 2 place the cost of the programs on the violators, not the
 
 3 taxpayers.  Traffic laws are enforced without discrimination, and
 
 4 safety and efficiency are increased by reducing the number of
 
 5 high-speed chases and the number of personnel required for
 
 6 traffic accident clean-up, investigation, and court testimony.
 
 7      In addition, the legislature finds that there is a need to
 
 8 exempt contracts entered into with the private company that is to
 
 9 supply the photo speed imaging detector and photo red light
 
10 imaging systems from the civil service, compensation, and
 
11 collective bargaining laws.  In Konno v. County of Hawaii, 85
 
12 Haw. 61, 937 P.2d 397 (1997), the Hawaii Supreme Court adopted
 
13 the "nature of the services" test, holding that the protection of
 
14 the civil service laws extends to those services that have been
 
15 "customarily and historically" provided by civil servants.
 
16 Because police officers may be held to be customarily and
 
17 historically responsible for issuing tickets to speeding
 
18 motorists and other functions that may now be contracted out to a
 
19 private entity, there is a need to specifically exempt any such
 
20 contracts from the civil service and compensation laws so that
 
21 those contracts are not voided by Konno.  Although the Konno
 
22 opinion did not reach the decision whether privatization is
 
23 subject to mandatory collective bargaining, this Act also exempts
 

 
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 1 contracts entered into with a private entity from collective
 
 2 bargaining laws as well, to ensure that these contracts are not
 
 3 subsequently voided for failure to comply with those laws as a
 
 4 result of a subsequent court interpretation.
 
 5      Finally, the legislature finds that speeding--whether on a
 
 6 highway or through a red light--frequently causes injury and
 
 7 death.  When speeding occurs, the accidents involved are almost
 
 8 always more serious.  Photo speed imaging detector and photo red
 
 9 light imaging systems have been proven in many locations
 
10 throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and numerous other
 
11 countries around the world as deterrents to red light traffic
 
12 violations and speeding and, consequently, injuries and death.
 
13 The legislature finds that there is an immediate need to remedy
 
14 the steadily worsening traffic conditions in Hawaii, and that the
 
15 implementation of photo speed imaging detector and photo red
 
16 light imaging systems will help to protect the health, safety,
 
17 and welfare of the people of this State, while at the same time
 
18 offering substantial cost savings and increased revenues.
 
19      The purpose of this Act is to:
 
20      (1)  Establish a [three-year] seven-year demonstration
 
21           project in selected areas on state or county highways
 
22           in each of the counties to provide for the
 
23           implementation of photo speed imaging detector and
 

 
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 1           photo red light imaging systems to improve traffic
 
 2           enforcement; and
 
 3      (2)  Allow the county to contract with an appropriate
 
 4           provider of these systems pursuant to the public
 
 5           procurement laws while:
 
 6           (A)  Exempting such contracts from civil service,
 
 7                compensation, and collective bargaining laws;
 
 8           (B)  Permitting the contractor to have access to
 
 9                information as set forth in this Act; and
 
10           (C)  Allowing the contractor to issue citations or
 
11                summonses by mail."
 
12      2.  By amending section 29 to read:
 
13      "SECTION 29.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1998;
 
14 provided that on July 1, [2001,] 2005, this Act shall be repealed
 
15 and sections 286-45, 286-172(a), and 291C-163(a), Hawaii Revised
 
16 Statutes, are reenacted in the form in which they read on
 
17 June 30, 1998."
 
18      SECTION 2.  Act 234, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, as amended
 
19 by Act 263, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999, is amended by amending
 
20 section 6 to read as follows:
 
21      "SECTION 6.  Traffic enforcement demonstration project.(a)
 
22 Subject to this Act, each county may establish a [three-year]
 
23 seven-year demonstration project in selected areas of that county
 
24 to provide for the implementation of photo red light imaging,
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 photo speed imaging detector, or photo technology systems to
 
 2 improve traffic enforcement as provided in this Act.  The
 
 3 demonstration project shall be limited to state or county
 
 4 highways and shall document the effectiveness of these systems.
 
 5 The contractor shall provide a public information campaign to
 
 6 inform local drivers about the use of these systems before any
 
 7 citation or summons is actually issued.
 
 8      (b)  Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the
 
 9 demonstration project may include the use of photo technology
 
10 systems in addition to photo red light imaging or photo speed
 
11 imaging detector systems, including hand-held or mounted video
 
12 cameras, conventional cameras, or digital cameras to improve
 
13 traffic enforcement and reduce traffic congestion, particularly
 
14 on controlled access facilities on Oahu.  These photo technology
 
15 systems:
 
16      (1)  May be operated by either private contractors or county
 
17           police department personnel at the election of the
 
18           police chief of each county;
 
19      (2)  Shall be used only to produce photographic
 
20           identification of vehicles which are operated in
 
21           violation of section 291C-38(c), Hawaii Revised
 
22           Statutes, regarding longitudinal traffic lane
 
23           markings."
 

 
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 1      SECTION 3.  Act 234, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, as amended
 
 2 by Act 263, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999, is amended by amending
 
 3 section 23 to read as follows:
 
 4      "SECTION 23.  [Report.] Reports.  Each county shall submit
 
 5 interim and final reports to the legislature as follows:
 
 6      (1)  [The interim report] Interim reports shall document the
 
 7           progress made in implementing the demonstration project
 
 8           and any contract entered into with a private
 
 9           contractor.  [The interim report] Interim reports shall
 
10           be submitted to the legislature no later than twenty
 
11           days before the convening of the regular sessions of
 
12           1999 [and], 2000[;], 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004; and
 
13      (2)  The final report shall evaluate the effectiveness of
 
14           the demonstration project, and shall include the
 
15           following:
 
16           (A)  The total of fine [revenue] revenues generated by
 
17                using the photo speed imaging detector, photo red
 
18                light imaging, or photo technology systems;
 
19           (B)  The number of citations and summonses issued by
 
20                the photo speed imaging detector, photo red light
 
21                imaging, or photo technology systems;
 
22           (C)  The amount paid to the contractor providing the
 
23                photo speed imaging detector, photo red light
 
24                imaging, or photo technology systems;
 

 
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 1           (D)  The effect of the demonstration project on traffic
 
 2                safety;
 
 3           (E)  The degree of public acceptance of the project;
 
 4           (F)  The process of administration of the project;
 
 5           (G)  An evaluation of the costs and benefits of the
 
 6                project;
 
 7           (H)  A review of the effectiveness of contracts entered
 
 8                into under this Act and the performance of the
 
 9                contractor;
 
10           (I)  Recommendations for design or planning changes
 
11                that might reduce traffic congestion on state or
 
12                county highways; and
 
13           (J)  Findings and recommendations as to whether to
 
14                continue any contract entered into pursuant to
 
15                this Act, make the project permanent, or adopt
 
16                another alternative.
 
17           The final report shall include any proposed
 
18           implementing legislation as may be necessary, and shall
 
19           be submitted to the legislature no later than twenty
 
20           days before the convening of the regular session of
 
21           [2001.] 2005."
 
22      SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
23 New statutory material is underscored.
 
24      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
25 
 
26                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________