For 18 years the Zipper Lane could have been two lanes wide, as it soon will be (“Morning H-1 fast track to double,” Star-Advertiser, June 3).

Why wasn’t it done so originally? We still would have had the same number of opposing lanes.

To truly benefit from the two Zipper Lanes and obtain the maximum traffic flow, consider allowing single-occupant vehicles to use the Zipper Lane two days per week for two months, as a trial, after one month of the added lane. The DOT can readily monitor the real difference in traffic flow with one occupant versus two or more.

By allowing single-occupant cars, I’m certain there will not be a tremendous impact. No real harm can occur. Just maybe, traffic will flow much more easily.

Jon von Kessel

Waikiki

Mandate caused air bag problems

The debate, “Disable defective Takata air bags?” (Star-Advertiser, June 6) was sad.

Eric Peters said yes, disconnect them all. Whitt Flora said no, leave them connected: “The risks posed by these bags seem relatively small by comparison to the number of lives saved.”

Neither one mentions that this problem would not exist at all if the government had not mandated air bags.

The legislators who voted for the law should have foreseen that there would inevitably be flawed airbags or other circumstances that killed people from time to time.

There is a willingness demonstrated here by both authors and the government to play Russian roulette, with statistics replacing lives. Yet, if it is your spouse or child who is dead, that is not a statistic; it is a tragedy.

People should decide whether they want an air bag, flawed or unflawed, in their car; then they can accept the consequences.

Richard O. Rowland

Chairman and founder, Grassroot Institute of Hawai‘i

Rail is right choice for transportation

Mayor Kirk Caldwell, City Council members and all rail naysayers should quit playing politics with my money.

Oahu transportation options were evaluated by planning professionals and our elected officials, and rail was selected as the best choice for moving commuters the 20 miles from Kapolei to downtown Honolulu.

Oahu voters expressed their opinion, and the majority agreed that rail should become a major part of Oahu’s transportation system.

We are not going to tear down what has already been built, and it makes no sense to stop the project short of downtown.

Twenty years from now, no one will remember whether it cost $6.9 billion or $8.1 billion. Instead, they will wonder why it took us so long to make it happen.

Alan Ewell

Tantalus

Little regard shown for keiki in Haleiwa

I wanted to treat a group of very close friends to a luncheon at the new Haleiwa Beach House restaurant, as the location has an unobstructed ocean view. But I will not now, or ever. This is why:

Having been born and raised in Haleiwa, my playground was the waterways next to the area where the present-day restaurant stands. But news coverage has shown another side of the new owner.

He has shown no regard for the aina or to the health and safety of our keiki, not to mention the laws enforced by the City and County of Honolulu, where he was once managing director and is now a scofflaw of the same.

I want to praise Neighborhood Board No. 27 member Blake McElheny for his tireless efforts in protecting the community interests.

The local boards are priceless in their efforts to address each district’s distinct and individual needs and should not be done away with, as the consequences would surely be dire.

Byron “Jiro” Kaneshiro

Wahiawa

Atomic bombings showed cost of war

In 1945, my now 90-year-old Marine dad was stationed at Lualualei ready to invade mainland Japan and quite possibly die. An invasion never happened due to the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. My dad got to go to college on the GI Bill while Japan suffered.

Our families and children are the American version of “hibakusha” — atomic bomb survivors who have received all of life’s spoils without the pain and anguish. Additionally, my wife’s Japanese grandfather was killed in a Japanese prison for his association with a group believed to be anti-war.

President Barack Obama’s speech at Hiroshima was an important reminder of the costs of war, the blessings of peace and a tribute to our friendship with Japan (“‘Moral revolution’ needed as nuclear abilities advance,” Star-Advertiser, May 28).

Daniel Laraway

Kapahulu

Republican House rejects own rules

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is dysfunctional, bordering on madness.

In the article, “Spending bill fails on fight over LGBT rights” (Star Advertiser, May 27), “conservative Republicans voted against their own legislation rather than acquience to a bipartisan amendment barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

Here’s where it gets crazy: Republicans demanded they be allowed to introduce amendments. They got what they wanted. A bipartisan amendment was reached barring discrimination against homosexuals by federal contractors. Now Republicans are having second thoughts. They got what they wanted, then voted against it. What?

House Republicans concede they will be unable to produce a budget due to infighting in their ranks, though Speaker of the House Paul Ryan blamed Democrats for the bill’s demise.

Lunacy. Sheer lunacy.

Robert K. Soberano

Moiliili