Question: Will you please inform us about the pink markers along both sides of Maunawili Ditch Trail? I hope it’s not survey work for development.
Answer: It’s not an official marker and not one signaling development of the trail, which is under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
According to Aaron Lowe, Oahu Trails & Access specialist for DLNR’s Na Ala Hele Trails & Access Program, “flagging” can be found all over the forests at Maunawili and elsewhere.
But unless the marks are labeled, it’s hard to identify who put them up, he said. It could be trail runners, hunters, dirt bikers, nearby residents, even pot growers.
For Na Ala Hele, flagging most commonly is used to mark native plants before maintenance work to protect them from being hit by power equipment, Lowe said. “If the flagging is not ours, then we pull it.”
Trail users are advised not to follow any unauthorized trail markers and to remain on clearly marked, state-approved hiking trails.
Although the Maunawili Ditch Trail was built by DLNR, the Sierra Club and the Hawaii Equestrian and Trail Association, the last two groups no longer are engaged in trail maintenance, Lowe said.
The Maunawili Ditch Trail is the state’s only designated horse trail.
For more information about state trails, go to hawaiitrails.ehawaii.gov/home.php. Maunawili Ditch Trail is No. 16 on Oahu.
Question: I saw the complaint about people not turning on their headlights in tunnels and mentioning how people don’t use their blinkers to change lanes. One of my biggest pet peeves is people not signaling they’re going to turn until the last minute, or not at all, or changing lanes without signaling.
I recently was stopped at an intersection without traffic signals. Another driver stopped facing me. No other cars were there, so we both proceeded. But then she nearly hit me because she actually wanted to turn left without signaling! Luckily, we both were able to stop in time. What is the law about using your turn signal?
Answer: Under Section 291C-84 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes — “Turning movements and required signals” — it says, “No person shall so turn any vehicle without giving an appropriate signal” or “otherwise turn a vehicle from a direct course or move right or left upon a roadway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety” without giving “an appropriate signal.”
Signaling an intention to turn right or left “shall be given continuously during not less than the last one hundred feet traveled by the vehicle before turning.”
For a bicycle or moped, signaling to turn “continuously during not less than the last one hundred feet traveled by the bicycle or moped before turning, and shall be given when the bicycle or moped is stopped waiting to turn.”
However, signaling by hand is not required continuously “if the hand is needed in the braking, control, or operation of the bicycle or moped.”
Also, you should not stop or suddenly slow down “without first giving an appropriate signal … to the driver of any vehicle immediately to the rear when there is opportunity to give such signal.”
Regarding “abrupt” lane changes, the Honolulu Police Department’s Traffic Division also pointed to Section 291C-49(1) of the Hawaii Revised Statutes: “A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane and shall not be moved from the lane until the driver has first ascertained that such movement can be made with safety.”
“Using blinkers can help to make lane changes safer,” HPD said.
AUWE
To a dishonest person. I was shopping at Ross downtown when someone walked off with my brand-new personal shopping cart. My name, address and telephone number were attached to it. I called the store to see if perhaps someone turned it in. Nope. I hope the person knows that karma catches up with you. I’m so disappointed in my fellow human beings.
— Sandra Rowe, senior citizen
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