Red-light cameras will snarl traffic

If you think traffic is bad in urban Honolulu now, wait until we have red-light cameras and no right turn on red.

Unless you have a left-turn lane and/or a left-turn signal, no one will be able to turn left without getting a ticket. You can be first in line, you pull out to make the turn on the green, than wait for the oncoming traffic to pass, but they keep coming right through the yellow light. So when you are finally able to turn, the light has turned red and here comes the ticket.

If the cars are not coming, you may still be waiting for the pedestrians who pay no attention to the “Don’t Walk” sign and you have to wait for them. Same result: a ticket.

It’s the same problem with no right turn on the red. Cars will have to wait for the green light and also wait for the pedestrians to clear. Far fewer cars will be able to make the turn and therefore congest traffic even more.

Gary G. Osterman

Hawaii Kai

Too many variables for red-light cameras

Since the last legislative session, I’ve been testing the pros and cons of red-light cameras. When I approach an intersection, if the light turns amber, I stop and wait for it to turn green. I support the effort to catch people who run red lights. However, it’s not that simple.

How many times have you been in the intersection waiting for someone to cross the road, or a bus stops and causes traffic to stop? No one entered the intersection while the light was red. However, they all will receive a ticket in the mail.

You will be unable to contest the citation because the evidence will be your vehicle in the intersection and a photo of a red light. What about mitigating circumstances? What about facing your accuser?

I recently slammed on my brakes as the light turned amber, not realizing that the person behind me was tailgating and expected me to go into the intersection. The person behind me had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting me.

I’m all for making the roads safer, but this is a bad idea. There are too many intangibles involved.

Edward Rogish

Aiea

Mitigate burden of stormwater fees

Perhaps stormwater runoff fees should include and cover the costs of silt-dams to slow and capture runoff, thereby diverting runoff water to the aquifer (“Public meetings start next week to discuss proposed stormwater fee,” Star-Advertiser, Kokua Line, Jan. 30). This would actually put the fees to work for our benefit.

Rainwater catchment systems by homeowners also should receive financial credit to reduce the fees, based upon a per-hundred-gallon storage rate. This water storage capacity would be a homeowner’s insurance against electrical or water shutdowns in cases of extended emergencies of weeks or months. This would benefit neighbors as well.

Let’s not be New York, taxing stargazing, metal detecting and eventually, the air you breathe.

Arthur Simpson

Wilhelmina Rise

Stop forcing new fees on the public

I understand wanting to keep the aquifer healthy, but in law, changing the consequences of an action is called “ex post facto” and is not a legal action (“Honolulu weighing possibility of forming stormwater utility,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 28). When people built their homes, they were not cognizant of a stormwater fee and did not plan for it.

Also, this idea of taxing cars in peak travel time is just as bogus. Rush hour is the result of every company, as well as the government, having the same operating hours. People have to go to work.

The Legislature is looking for money. Understandable, but don’t make the burden unbearable on taxpayers. I remember last year when House Speaker Scott Saiki said he didn’t want to burden small business with an increase in the minimum wage for workers, but thought it was OK to give himself and other lawmakers a nice raise on the taxpayers.

People are moving away because of financial burdens.

Judith Pettibone

Makiki

Liberal lawmakers leave isles lawless

Last week we had a group of 20 9- and 10-year-old children practicing baseball at Cartwright Field in Honolulu — yet another park that has been taken over by homeless living in cars, tents and sidewalks.

The children were forced to watch a savage beating by one crazed homeless woman on another with a stick for 10 minutes. We called the police, who arrived quickly but left within two minutes, leaving the combatants in their home/truck together.

The officer told us they were sisters and there was nothing they could do. This left the children understandably traumatized and questioning why nothing was done.

The truth is, this is the mess that the Democrats in power all these years have left us. Years of liberal lawmakers and judges have left us taxpayers with a state that is violent, crime-ridden and lawless, but free of plastic straws. As voters, when will we say “enough is enough”?

Erich Wida

Kaneohe

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