Honolulu Speed Cameras Capture 30,000 Speeding Violations Weekly, And This Is Concerning | Carscoops

      Currently, offenders are receiving only warnings, but that may soon change.

      12 hours ago

      by Stephen Rivers

      Hawaii has installed speed cameras in Honolulu, which has led to a new issue.

      The system is capturing far more speeders than the courts can manage.

      Consequently, the government will continue to issue warnings only for the time being.

      Speeding is a significant cause of accidents each year, making it a primary focus for authorities across the nation. However, as Honolulu intensifies its efforts to reduce speed-related incidents, it is encountering a problem of its own creation.

      The newly implemented speed cameras, operational since March 1, are identifying an average of 30,000 speeders each week. To give some context, this number exceeds the total tickets issued by the city for the entire island in 2024.

      “We are currently targeting or issuing warnings to those exceeding the speed limit by 11 miles per hour. If we had set the threshold at seven or five miles per hour over, the number would almost double,” stated Ed Sniffen, director of the state Department of Transportation. The government has been trialing this new speed camera initiative since March 1, with speeders receiving only warnings in the mail.

      Concerns About Local Courts

      The high volume of speeders is raising concerns. Initially, the program was scheduled to start issuing actual speeding tickets on May 1. If this occurs, it might overwhelm the local court system. “That said, we will likely extend the warning period until October,” Sniffen clarified. “This will provide the public additional time to adjust and also allow us to collaborate with our judiciary and prosecutors to ensure we have the capacity to handle these numbers if necessary.”

      Not everyone is pleased with the new setup. With so many drivers already exceeding the speed limit, it raises a pertinent question: Are the current speed limits reasonable? If the state proceeds with the program, anyone caught speeding just five miles per hour over the limit will incur a $250 fine for a first violation.

      “That’s a bit excessive since everyone does that,” local driver Cathy Ehia told KHon2. “I’m sure even law enforcement does it. I understand there are many fatalities and everything, but that feels a bit harsh.”

      The Department of Transportation indicates that speed contributed to roughly half of last year's fatal accidents on state highways. However, it seems contradictory to mention this fact when none of the speed cameras are positioned on highways; they are located at standard intersections. Ehia is not the only local unhappy with the cameras and the new system. Others have voiced their opinions on Reddit.

      Rising Local Frustration

      “I drive through there five times a week, and I usually go 27-30 mph, while others clearly zip around me. The 25 mph limit feels too low for those two traffic lights. It’s frustrating because I really don’t want to receive a ticket, but being the only one adhering to the speed limit makes me feel like I’m at risk of an accident,” commented one user.

      Others criticized the Hawaii Department of Transportation, accusing it of selectively presenting statistics that suggest less than one percent of fatalities in the past decade occurred at the intersections where the cameras are installed.

      At least one individual proposed an interesting solution to the problem. “The solution we had in Colorado nearly 30 years ago was that everyone in town agreed not to pay the fines. They removed the cameras two weeks later,” they suggested. We will monitor the developments of the program when it is implemented or possibly postponed again in October.