Tennis court usage rules are designed to play fair

Question: I was playing tennis at the court next to the McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Beach Park. A woman with her family from Japan stepped in and told us that she had been told that we had been playing for over 45 minutes and demanded we turn the court over to them although she had NEVER been waiting inside or outside our court. She insisted that the rule posted on the sign at the entrance of the tennis court said that each person is allowed 45 minutes. I noticed her doing the same thing with other players — demanding the court for her use. It doesn’t seem right. Can the sign be modified to specify that players are required to wait 45 minutes to take over? Also, people use the courts for skateboards, scooters and basketballs.

Answer: There is a 45-minute rule for playing on the tennis courts at Ala Moana Park, with a waiting area for players adjacent to the courts, said Jon Hennington, spokesman for the city Department of Parks and Recreation.

He said the confrontational woman appears to be the exception, not the rule.

"Players waiting for a court generally wait there until the 45 minutes are up and then swap," he said. "In most instances, this goes smoothly."

There are no plans to change the signs at this point, but Hennington pointed out the city is in the midst of soliciting public input on how to improve the 119-acre, 81-year-old park while balancing the many competing needs of park users.

"We’d love (players’) ideas" not only about the courts, but any other area of the park, Hennington said.

As for people breaking park rules by using the courts for skateboarding and other nontennis activities, you are advised to contact the Honolulu Police Department by calling 911 (saying it’s a nonemergency).

"We appreciate (the public’s) kokua in being our eyes and ears in the parks," Hennington said.

The city has hired a New York-based consultant, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures and Associates, for $1.2 million to come up with a master plan for the park’s future.

Motorcycle Sensors

In response to the May 21 Kokua Line about problems with motorcycles and traffic light sensors, two Kokua Line readers pointed to magnets sold online and in "motorcycle stores" that can trigger those sensors.

"Do a Google search for ‘motorcycle traffic sensors’ and you’ll find many products for sale that deal with this problem," one suggested. "Generally they are small dense magnetic or metal blocks, maybe half the size of a brick, that attach to the underside of the bike. They add ‘metal mass’ to the bike and work great at tripping these sensors. I have one and they work fine."

We did a Google search and found that motorcyclists nationwide face this problem, so much so that more than a dozen states currently have laws that allow them to run red lights when traffic sensors don’t detect their vehicles.

The laws vary by state, but basically they establish guidelines on how a driver can legally go through a red light by following certain procedures.

There is no such law in Hawaii.

The Honolulu Police Department said anyone who disobeys a traffic signal is liable to be cited, although an officer could use his discretion and not issue a citation based on the circumstances — e.g., sensors not working — and the degree of danger involved.

Mahalo

To all those who came to my aid when I fell in the hallway at Kuakini Medical Plaza in February, suffering a facial fracture: Dr. Daven Chun and a helper, who picked me off the floor; Dr. Donn K. Marutani, who asked how it happened; Marlene, for taking me in a wheelchair to Kuakini’s emergency room; Dr. Kevin K. Lum and nurse Miyuki, who evaluated and tended to me there. Lastly, mahalo to Dr. Owen Kaneshiro, my primary doctor, who referred me to Dr. Lawrence P. Burgess, who said I was fine and good to go. — Grateful Senior Citizen

Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.