RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the collection of evidence and traffic incident management are major concerns at a traffic accident scene, especially when a fatality has occurred; and

WHEREAS, evidence collected at a traffic incident needs to be as accurate and thorough as possible since this evidence can be of paramount importance in determining the cause of the traffic accident; and

WHEREAS, currently, accident investigations in Hawaii are mainly completed through the use of on-site measurements of accident locations to obtain data, but proceeds at an alarmingly slow rate when compared to equivalent metropolitan areas in the United States; and

WHEREAS, the length of these investigations, sometimes lasting as long as eight hours, results in prolonged traffic lane closures that adversely affects the public and increases the risk of secondary accidents, resulting in further delays; and

WHEREAS, advances in photographic technology have allowed electronic or digital photography to become as prevalent, and at least as accurate, as film photography currently used in accident investigations; and

WHEREAS, photogrammetric computer systems that analyze digital photographs of accident scenes at an off-site location and make reliable, three dimensional measurements through photographic triangulation, has shown no significant difference in data collected as compared to the archaic use of surveying equipment; and

WHEREAS, metropolitan areas throughout the United States, including cities in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, and Arizona, have begun to rely on Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Teams (MAIT) and the use of photogrammetric measurements for data collection to conduct thorough accident investigations; and

WHEREAS, the use of MAIT, which consist of investigators with specialized training in traffic collision reconstruction, traffic engineering, automotive engineering, and vehicle dynamics, along with the use of photogrammetric computer systems, has resulted in quicker response times at accident scenes, with average on-site investigation times being reduced by thirty-five to fifty percent; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the Senate concurring, that the Honolulu Police Department is requested to study, and implement where feasible, the use of MAIT and photogrammetric computer systems to reduce on-site investigation of traffic accidents and minimize lane closures of roadways and the impact this has on the driving public; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the chief of the Honolulu Police Department, the Director of Transportation, and the Director of Transportation Services for the City and County of Honolulu.

Report Title:

Requesting the police departments of the City and County of Honolulu, Maui County, Kauai County, and Hawaii County, to study and implement, where feasible, the use of Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Teams (MAIT) and photogrammetric computer systems to reduce on-site investigation of traffic accidents and minimize lane closures of roadways.