It’s been some 20 years since the controversial “van cameras” to nab speeders roiled Oahu drivers, but the spectre of that ill-fated traffic experiment is sure to reappear over the emerging red-light camera pilot project. Still, there are substantial differences that favor the new traffic- safety project.

Basic rule-making for the red-light camera system is underway, with a virtual public hearing last Thursday on proposed administrative rules to get the ball rolling (see the rules at bit.ly/3gkHtwO). Barring major changes, the rules would head this week to the governor for approval.

What’s being created is a system that will install cameras at 10 high-risk Oahu intersections, to photograph and cite motorists who enter the intersection after the light has turned red. Right turns on red will not be part of this two-year pilot project.

One camera would take a picture of the rear of a vehicle running a light after it’s turned red, capturing the license plate; a second would capture the entire intersection for context. A citation would then be sent to the vehicle’s registered owner. The first-citation fine will be up to $200, with all fines collected to go into the red-light system’s special fund to sustain the program, budgeted at $2.8 million over two years.

There’s solid rationale for launching this system to deter red-light runners, as roadways here return to their prepandemic congestion. Multimodal transportation vehicles are again jockeying for space alongside pedestrians, increasing situations for stress, impatience and accidents.

The new law’s enabling legislation noted that from 2015 to 2019, police throughout Hawaii issued 20,885 red-light violations to motorists for disregarding a red-light traffic signal. “These violations endanger the lives of motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users,” it said, noting that between 2014 and 2018, 1,312 intersection crashes occurred in Hawaii as a result of red light and other traffic signal violations.

Of course, due diligence in selecting the high-risk sites will help justify this project to the public. That was a crucial element lacking 20 years ago, when a skeptical public saw the “van-cam” vendor as ticketing motorists at sites chosen to maximize fines and payments, not for public safety.

To that end, the state Department of Transportation is working to identify the red-light intersections using county traffic data, such as recent three years’ worth of motor vehicle crash data involving fatalities, injuries and property damage at intersections. A current list of 14 potential sites will get pared to 10, and those will undergo further traffic engineering study (see sites at 808ne.ws/3gNe798). As frustrated motorists can attest, better synchronization of traffic lights must also be part of this equation, to optimize road flow.

In its report to the 2020 Legislature, a task force reviewed red-light camera systems in use in similar- sized jurisdiction, including Clearwater, Fla., New York City, Chicago and Washington state. Among the benefits of the automated red-light cams:

>> No traffic stop is involved, so police officers are relieved from time-consuming duties of traffic enforcement, and in contested cases, court appearances. Freeing police to respond to higher-priority calls would be a positive, given the Honolulu Police Department’s manpower shortage of some 300 officers.

>> A violator is less likely to go to court because the citation photos are imprinted with the violation’s time, date and location, which can be used as evidence in court. In jurisdictions using this system, few cases are contested, saving court costs. In New York City, the first to employ a red-light camera system back in 1994, about 5% of tickets were contested in the first five years of the program; 27 years later, less than 2% of tickets are contested.

Honolulu can only hope to see such success, especially given past legal challenges over the speed “van cams” that contributed to that law’s repeal. In April 2002, amid scores of ticket challenges, District Judge Leslie Ann Hayashi ruled as “unconstitutional” that law’s provision that registration information is evidence that the vehicle owner was driving when the vehicle was tagged for speeding. That, she said, unconstitutionally shifts the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defendant.

How this ruling might apply to today’s red-light law has yet to be answered directly, since the new law similarly calls for the vehicle’s registered owner to be cited for the violation. But there are clauses for the owner to challenge the citation and show evidence if he/she was not driving. And, various mainland court rulings over the past decade or so uphold the constitutionality of registered vehicle owners getting the citations, so long as there is due process and opportunity for a hearing to prove the owner was not driving.

Hawaii’s officials will need to provide clarity on this and other concerns soon, once the administrative rules are approved. Selection of a system vendor will trigger a round of public hearings soon.

As many law-abiding motorists know, hasty drivers zooming into an intersection after the light has turned red is a danger to all. Consequences should follow — and if a good, cost-effective camera system can enable that, it is for the public good.