Letter: Cameras are not a safety solution

As others have proposed, pedestrian safety can be increased substantially with pedestrian-activated flashing yellow lights at both ends of the crosswalk, with bright flashing lights embedded in each lane. This effective solution, successfully implemented in many mainland cities, is being ignored in favor of camera enforcement.

The reality: Cameras do one thing — they passively take photographs. They don’t save lives, nor do they make traffic safer. Presumably they act as a deterrent.

Cameras wouldn’t have saved three lives in the recent tragic crash in Kakaako. Impaired drivers aren’t deterred by cameras, nor are unlicensed and unregistered drivers. What percentage of pedestrian injuries or deaths have been caused by drivers in those categories?

Indisputably, red-light cameras are all about money. The National Motorists Association, a driver advocacy organization, reports many mainland cities, and the state of Texas, have pending bills banning cameras.

Hawaii doesn’t want or need legally and ethically challenged camera enforcement.

Patrick Casey

Kailua

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