Honolulu drivers with hand-held gadgets to get fine, not warning Starting July 1, drivers who are caught using hand-held devices risk being ticketed
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu police plan to ticket drivers who disobey a new law that bans mobile electronic devices immediately after it goes into effect July 1 — a change that may take many drivers by surprise.
"I don't know what the law is, what the fine is or even when it starts," said Karen Taumua of Waimanalo, in a comment typical of many drivers.
The answers are:
Potentially confusing. The law applies only to O'ahu and bans "hand-held mobile electronic devices" while driving. "Hands-free" devices will be allowed.
Asked by reporters yesterday about several possible exceptions, Maj. Thomas Nitta, commander of the HPD's traffic division, said his officers will ticket drivers caught with electronic devices in their hands while driving. It will then be up to the drivers to prove to a judge that they should not have gotten a ticket, Nitta said.
"The person will be cited based on what we observe," Nitta said.
The fine is $67 for a first offense and a judge may impose additional penalties for subsequent offenses, which could possibly run as high as $500, said deputy prosecutor Lori Nishimura.
The law goes into effect July 1 and officers will not be letting violators off with warnings.
"There will be no grace period," Nitta said.
Honolulu police have set up a page on their Web site,
www.honolulupd.org, to try to clarify details of the law.
The effort to spread the message to O'ahu residents as well as tourists is ramping up as well. The Department of Transportation plans to meet with HPD officials next week about reminding drivers about the law on its electronic sign boards — and at Honolulu International Airport and at airport rental car companies to remind tourists.
"We're definitely willing to get the word out to drivers," said DOT spokeswoman Tammy Mori.
According to information provided by Honolulu police yesterday, a "mobile electronic device" is "any hand-held or other portable electronic equipment capable of providing wireless and/or data communication between two or more persons or of providing amusement, including but not limited to a cellular phone, text messaging device, paging device, personal digital assistant, laptop computer, video game, or digital photographic device. The law does not prohibit the use of audio equipment installed in a motor vehicle for the purposes of providing navigation, emergency assistance to the operator of the motor vehicle, or video entertainment to the passengers in the rear seats of a motor vehicle."
As Nitta said yesterday, "use is considered any time you have a device in your hand."
But there are several exceptions, Nitta said:
Drivers can legally make 911 emergency calls while driving. Patrol officers, however, won't know the difference between that and an illegal call. So drivers who are ticketed will have to show their cell phone bill to a judge proving they were making a legitimate 911 call at the time listed on the ticket.
The law allows drivers to make calls or send text messages after pulling over to the side of the road. To be legal, they first have to turn off their cars' engines, Nitta said.
Drivers can use their phones' "push-to-talk," walkie-talkie-like systems for work purposes. Again, Nitta said, officers won't know the difference between a legal, work-related conversation and an illegal non-work call. Because walkie-talkie conversations usually don't appear on a cell-phone bill, Nitta said ticketed drivers most likely will have to provide the judge with a letter from their employer.
To Jake Thompson — a music promoter from the Punahou area who's constantly on the phone — the law is complicated and destined to frustrate Honolulu drivers.
Thompson ended a cell phone call yesterday and said: "There's going to be a lot of confusion. You know they're going to end up rewriting the law after everyone gets frustrated and complains and writes letters."
Graham Henderson, a student at San Francisco State University, regularly disobeys California's ban on cell phones while driving and plans to keep making calls — and texting — while driving whenever he visits Honolulu.
"I haven't been caught yet so I'll keep doing it," Henderson said. "It is super dangerous. I still do it all the time."
'take my chances'
Mia Graffam, who lives Downtown, just finished sending a text message yesterday and said she probably will hide her cell phone under the dash after July 1 so she can keep texting while driving.
"Texting while driving is dangerous," she said. "But I'll take my chances."
Nitta has no idea how many tickets his officers might issue in the first few days the law goes into effect. Instead, Nitta said, the emphasis is on changing drivers' behavior instead of issuing lots of tickets that will end up generating fees for the state, not the city.
Nitta referred to a hono luluadvertiser.com poll that found that 50 percent of respondents plan to buy hands-free technology to comply with the new law, 25 percent won't talk on the phone while driving after the law goes into effect and 25 percent don't plan to change their driving-while-calling behavior.
"As long as you have the device in your hand, it's considered a violation," Nitta said. "The purpose of this law is to prevent you from being distracted from something else other than operating your vehicle."
