Say Aloha to Traffic Cameras in Hawaii

Speeding tourists on Oahu, beware: Your car is on camera.

Hawaii has begun issuing so-called photo-enforcement tickets to drivers who violate speed limits on 15 roadways on Oahu, including Pali, Nimitz and Kamehameha highways. Fines are substantial, and visitors may not learn they have been ticketed until they leave the island.

The tickets are issued after cameras on vans photograph the license plates of accused speeders. (The cameras are activated when a laser gun detects excessive speed, officials say.) Vehicle owners are supposed to be notified of the citation by mail in three days.

But for visitors who rent cars, the process may take longer. At the Avis station at Honolulu International Airport, administrative assistant Raven Waikiki said her office receives photo-enforcement tickets about a week after the violation, then sends them to traffic court for additional processing and forwarding to the renter. Her station had received 25 such citations as of last week, she said.

The fine is $27 plus $5 for every mile per hour over the speed limit. If the ticket is unpaid after 15 days, the fine goes to $52 plus $5 for each mile over the limit.

The photo enforcement program, which began in early January, has created an uproar among some residents, who say it invades their privacy, among other complaints. But Hawaii’s Department of Transportation says the program is needed to stem an epidemic of speeding. For more information, visit the department’s Internet site, www.state.hi.us/dot/publicaffairs/ photoenforcement.