Chinatown Pedestrian Meeting

The Chinese Community Action Coalition has scheduled a meeting on April 15th from 3 to 4:30 PM at the Empress Restaurant, 2nd floor of Chinatown Cultural Plaza in reaction to the rash of jaywalking tickets issued by HPU. The meeting is for those who need the law translated into their own language.

In reaction to the high number of pedestrian deaths in Honolulu County, the current régime reacted with increased penalties and a crackdown in law enforcement .

The government campaign on stricter enforcement of traffic laws is applauded and is need in light of the ten pedestrian deaths so far in 2007. But using this campaign for revenue enhancement is reminiscent of the van cam scam. At that time, cars were being issued speeding tickets for going over 1 mph over the speed limit for profit by the private company contracted for law enforcement. The public outcry of such illegal use of control by the state ended the van cam scam.

Although speed trap laws only apply to cases involving speeding violations, it should also apply to the pedestrian ticket trap located at the pedestrian only intersection at Kekaulike Street and River Street.

Police hand out bad eggs on Easter Morning

For a second early Sunday morning in a row, Honolulu police issued $70 tickets at supposed jaywalkers at the Maunakea Mall for revenue enhancement under the guise of "safety." Stop lines are at 50 feet apart - as it is in all other intersections within the city, but the unnaturally narrow painted crosswalk of 10 feet is unusual.

I watched on a early Easter morning as four uniformed policemen waited for a person to step outside the narrowly painted lines. After tickets were issued, people had to slow down and funnel themselves at the bottlenecked crosswalk in order to avoid becoming indebted to the current administration. Only government transport are allowed on Hotel Street.

Installing a pedestrian crossing light that is activated by a chip on the bus, police or ambulance as it is in other cites, which would make more sense, especially on a Sunday when there is limited bus service in this pedestrian only area.

Why is this crosswalk only legal to cross at less than eight foot width? Ticketing pedestrians even though in between stop lines at a intersection appears to be simple revenue enhancement.

Paint the crosswalk just as wide as other crosswalks in order to make for a more pedestrian friendly city as mandated by the voters in 2006. It's the city's duty to make the Department of Transportation create a more pedestrian friendly city.

As reported in the California State University, Fresno, "The Collegian", "Jaywalking is not a simple cut-and-dry black-and-white law in which one can be cited for simply walking outside a crosswalk," California state Attorney Laura Guzman Magill said. "The police are leading people to believe that is true."