Question: The signs along Ala Wai Boulevard say, “No Parking 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Mondays and Fridays.” If you leave your car there after 8:30 a.m. on those days, first the police come along and give you a ticket, and then a few minutes later the tow truck comes along and tows your car away. I am sure this is very costly for the owner of the car. But if you have parked your moped or motorcycle in this no-parking area, you are neither ticketed nor towed. Why not? Are mopeds and motorcycles allowed to legally park in no-parking zones? Maybe I should get a moped, and I won’t have to get up early to move it twice a week.
Answer: No, there isn’t an exemption for mopeds and motorcycles in no-parking areas, and city officials say those types of vehicles are cited during tow-away hours along Ala Wai Boulevard.
“Mopeds and motorcycles, as licensed vehicles, are covered under the same parking restrictions as other vehicles and are subject to tow in tow-away zones,” said Alex Zannes, a spokesman for the city.
Michelle Yu, a spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department, said that “officers regularly cite motorcycles and mopeds parked in the tow zone. The towing company is responsible for removing them.”
There’s no parking on Ala Wai Boulevard on Monday and Friday mornings so that street-sweeping equipment can clear trash that builds up along the mauka curb, which can wash into storm drains or the Ala Wai Canal.
Prior to these no-parking periods being reimposed in 2006, the continuous presence of vehicles along the curb made it impossible to properly clean Ala Wai Boulevard, according to an announcement by the city at that time.
Q: I went online to get the gold star, but my order wouldn’t go through. What’s going on?
A: The city blames high customer volume for technical difficulties on the website where Oahu drivers whose identifying documents are on file can order a duplicate driver’s license to add the gold star, which marks compliance with the federal REAL ID law.
Rather than trying again and again to submit their order, residents are advised to wait a few days to let online traffic subside while city technicians work to restore smooth access to the website.
Once that occurs, Oahu motorists who renewed their driver’s license from May 2014 through January 2018 — after Hawaii licenses met federal standards but before they included the star to mark compliance — can go to www1.honolulu.gov/duplicates and choose “Option 2” to order a copy of their current license, with the star added. No DMV visit is required. This process works only for driver’s licenses issued on Oahu, not for state IDs.
Online orders will be processed only for applicants whose paperwork is on file, indicating they have met all REAL ID requirements. No changes of name, address or expiration date are allowed. In short, this is not a license renewal; it’s a request for a duplicate (except for the added star).
Q: How much does it cost and how long does it take? Hawaii should have had the star all along!
A: The cost for an online duplicate is $7. Assuming that the website is operating normally, it could take six to eight weeks for the duplicate license to arrive in the mail.
Your complaint about Hawaii’s late adoption of the star mark is a common one.
Mahalo
Mahalo to Officer Geoff for hand-delivering my state ID, which I wasn’t aware I had lost. — Aloha, a reader
Mahalo
On Friday afternoon at Safeway Hawaii Kai, a young man helped me carry two bags of 20-pound rice into my car. I thanked him for his kindness, but I forgot to get his name. His white car was parked next to mine. I wish him good luck and God bless him. — A thankful tutu
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.
