WHEREAS, proposed legislation supports the allowance of red light cameras to be posted at stoplights throughout the State, allowing for those motorists who run red lights to be captured on camera and ticketed; and

WHEREAS, the objective of such legislation is the reduction of traffic accidents and consequently traffic fatalities each year in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, substantial evidence supports the claim that red light camera systems actually increase accidents rather than lead to their reduction as drivers stop abruptly at yellow lights for fear of receiving a ticket, thus resulting in more rear-end collisions at intersections; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Transportation Research Council has found, in the county with the most accurate data, that the number of injury accidents actually increased between 7 and 24 percent in areas with red light camera systems, and that rear-end crashes at intersections also increased between 50 and 71 percent; and

WHEREAS, at an intersection in Fairfax County, Virginia, red-light violations reduced by 96 percent after officials extended the length of the yellow-light by one and a half seconds; and

WHEREAS, Fairfax County data show that the number of citations issued at this intersection with an extended yellow light decreased to 0.82 citations a day on average; and

WHEREAS, the number of violations captured by the red light camera system in Fairfax, Virginia also decreased from an average daily rate of 52.1 a day to only 2 a day following the extended light; and

WHEREAS, Virginia's data is supplemented and supported by a study out of San Diego, California, which also increased the length of time of an intersection's yellow light from 3.1 to 4.7 seconds, thus reducing accidents and collisions by 88 percent; and

WHEREAS, current data collected supports the fact that extended time periods at yellow traffic lights do more to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities than the red light camera systems; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that the House of Representatives requests that the Department of Transportation shall increase the duration of time of yellow traffic lights to aid in the reduction of traffic violations, accidents, and fatalities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Department of Transportation.

Report Title:

Requesting the DOT to increase the length of yellow lights