CURBING NEED FOR SPEED TAKES COMMITMENT FROM ALL

FIND POLITICAL WILL TO GET TOUGH ON SPEEDERS

Remember the unpopular van camera program? Remember how most people agreed that the cameras slowed traffic? Remember the Legislature's lack of courage to support the program? Remember no leadership came from our local government's highest levels even as the death toll continued to rise?

Now look at our traffic deaths and the fact that 50 percent or more are speeding related and think about the fact that the cameras would have paid for themselves. What we had was a lack of political will to buck popular sentiment in favor of the general safety and well-being of our community.

HPD has tried to stem the tide and is increasing its efforts, but what about the avoidable loss of life? What about all the families left behind to forever grieve? Is it possible that we could have saved just one family from the awful and avoidable death notification?

Expect more of the same if we continue to elect people motivated by self-preservation.

KENNETH L. BARKER | HAWAI'I KAI

ENFORCING SPEED LIMITS, RULES CAN SAVE LIVES

I was saddened to read the article in the Sunday newspaper about the Big Island car crash killing five people.

We recently camped at Namakani Paio Campground situated close to Route 11 in Volcanoes National Park and observed how fast drivers speed along this road, especially at night, when the stillness in the park enables one to hear the traffic approaching from some miles away.

Surely it is time to think seriously about enforcing the speed limits on roads. Speed cameras are highly effective in the UK in solving this problem and protecting other road users. People are not worried that they are being watched because they know it is for their own safety.

We can't go on like this reading sad stories and taking no enforcement action.

SUSAN SMALL | KAPAHULU

JUDGES, OTHERS MUST TAKE ISSUE SERIOUSLY

After reading Will Hoover's article "Police Target Speeders and Hope to Save Lives" (Nov. 10) concerning HPD's upcoming crackdown on speeders, I wanted to feel encouraged that finally something will be done to reduce the number of traffic deaths caused by speeding. However, I seriously doubt this will work. Why?

Past attempts to address this serious issue such as the van cams that everyone went bonkers over due to a supposed invasion of privacy, yet they did work the short time they were in place. Likewise, many judges don't follow through on the fines unless the speeder is at least 10 mph over the speed limit.

While I applaud HPD, there are others who need to get serious as well.

JOHN TOILLION | MILILANI

LOW TURNOUT

WOULD-BE VOTERS MUST STRUGGLE TO STAY AFLOAT

Voter turnout hits new low.

No surprise there!

Fifty years ago, one willing worker could support a family of four in their own home with a TV, refrigerator, car and two weeks' vacation.

Last week, I stopped for a coffee where a family of four had their accounts spread over two tables as they tried to find enough money for the baby's doctor bill and something to eat. I could see from these accounts that they were working one week every month to pay taxes, one week to pay bank and finance charges and two weeks to pay rent, so it was clear there was no money for food or doctor bills.

Fifty years ago, doctors came to your home and cured your children. Today, Hawai'i has no doctors, just medical practitioners who sit on a stool, write a prescription, schedule a follow-up visit and then bill your insurance company for the time taken to think up more ways to pad the bill for the "service" rendered.

Fifty years ago, banks attracted customers with free banking services and high interest rates. I was astonished to see this family paying finance charges at 24.2 percent per annum!

What happened to our usury laws? What happened to integrity, when banks lend money to customers at 24.2 percent annually yet, according to Hawai'i Deposit Rates published in The Advertiser, "reward" savers with a paltry 1.65 percent interest per annum?

Did anyone notice any candidate concerned with such issues?

Instead, voters saw, for example, Councilman Charles Djou's campaign that claimed zero accomplishments for his constituents. He ignored sewage spills, potholes, property taxes, traffic, environment and everything else to focus entirely upon how he had wisely used his position to advance his station in life and reasoned that he should be re-elected so he can further improve his life and provide for his family.

You might say it was voter disillusionment, but more likely it is because, like Djou, voters were just too busy trying to improve their station in life.

RICO LEFFANTA | HONOLULU

RAIL TRANSIT

WEST O'AHU NEEDS RAIL TRANSIT OPTION THIS TIME

I've lived in Makaha for 13 years and used to really feel sorry for the residents of the Wai'anae Coast having to get up extra early either to drive to work or catch the bus to get to work. As the years progressed the commute got longer and has degenerated to a point where they are spending more and more time in traffic away from home and their families.

We really need to get a rail system that would serve West O'ahu as soon as possible and help improve the quality of life for the residents of an ever-growing community.

I remember feeling totally frustrated at the past political failures to get a rail system implemented and could not understand how this could have happened. I am confident the mayor and the members of the City Council have the best interest of all our residents at heart. I hope that this time we do not witness another political debacle and finally get the rail system started.

SATORU ABE | KAIMUKI

FREE THE TRAIN FROM FOSSIL FUEL RELIANCE

The recent islandwide power failure from the earthquake was a wake-up call for many. Would someone in authority please seriously consider placing photovoltaic power cells between the rails of the upcoming and seeming inevitable Honolulu Rail Transit route?

Such a solar electric system would free the train from HECO's fossil fuel grid — think about being able to safely get around when all the traffic lights weren't working — and would free us taxpayers from having to pay to power it.

BARRY KEMP | PUNAHOU

POLITICIANS MUST BRING IT IN ON TIME, BUDGET

"Boondoggle." Webster's dictionary defines the word as "a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft." Interesting choice of words when you think about the idea of the various rail systems that our wonderful leaders have decided we need to have post-haste.

Here's a challenge: I think every politician who supports this plan, from the mayor to the legislators to the City Council, should stake their political future to a promise that whatever they approve will be on time and on budget, no exceptions.

Since the taxpayers are paying for the best that money can buy, all we can at least expect in return is something we can use in this lifetime for the price that was quoted.

When we hear that promise I and probably a lot more people will get behind any rail project. If not, then I suggest we get our dictionaries out again to learn about the word "foist."

EUGENE DEPEW | HONOLULU

HOMELESS

CRITICS SHOULD FIND COMPASSION, SOLUTIONS

In response to Wil Wong (Letters, Nov. 13), yes, the homeless problem is terrible. You decry the poor image that homeless visibility projects, yet you offer no solution. What should we do with these people? Shall we put them all on Kaho'olawe? Or maybe keep you company in your comfortable setting in Ha'iku?

The majority of these people are not homeless by choice but by the economy. Try to imagine how it must feel to be the sole supporter of an aging mother and a handicapped friend and have to go live on the beach (or a bench by the Hawai'i Theatre), because the house you have lived in for 30 years got sold and the rent was jacked up so high you could no longer pay.

A lot of people out there complain about the "unsightliness" of the homeless, but have no solution to offer. I say to you that if you can't offer a solution, then don't complain.

Maybe the sight of these people might light a little spark of compassion in your grandchildren/children.

No, I do not have a solution. I wish I did. But I do feel compassion for the homeless. It can and does happen to anybody.

LORETTA ALLEN | HONOLULU

COMMUNITY WOES

FOCUS ON PRINCIPLES CAN BRING SOLUTIONS

Our community is facing several concerns that would benefit from a more balanced approach; graffiti, littering, careless driving and crime.

More laws and harsher penalties are only part of the solution. They must be balanced by specific training that occurs while learning how to walk and speak. This should continue until all essential life skills are mastered.

This will require the cooperation and participation of our entire community: schools, government, business, religious groups and the family. It should begin in the family but be modeled throughout the community.

Children can be taught to draw on paper and not the bedroom wall, to put their "stuff" and garbage in the right place, to walk (not run) on slippery pool decks and to play and talk nicely with each other. In age-appropriate ways, these lessons can be reinforced as more important/critical situations arise; making good decisions, maintaining good relationships, being a good citizen.

By lifting up a few universally believed principles, such as respect, responsibility, honesty, compassion and fairness, we could find some solutions to many of our problems and concerns. It would add support, substance and context to the laws, rules and guidelines that provide direction for our living together.

Learning is a lifelong adventure; a new skill, the latest technology and appropriate behavior.

JOHN HEIDEL | KAILUA

HAWAIIAN STYLE

LETTER WRITERS EARN HIGH MARKS FOR CIVILITY

I rarely send letters to the editor but this time I feel a comment is appropriate.

I have been reading the letters to the editor in The Advertiser lately and have noticed that, at least in Hawai'i, citizens are mostly courteous in their letters. Mudslinging, barbs, etc., seem to not appear in the letters. Rather, they are much more constructive and offer solutions more often than those here on the Mainland. I think your citizens need a big hand for true aloha.