TRAFFIC SAFETY

CELL PHONES UNSAFE WHILE DRIVING IN TRAFFIC

Safety on Hawai'i's highways has gone to the dogs.

Our lawmakers couldn't care less and here is the proof. They have allowed the use of cell phones while driving. This is almost like driving intoxicated. You have to take your eyes off the road while dialing the number.

There have been many near-accidents while drivers are concentrating on their conversations.

As of July 2008, California, Washington state, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Utah have prohibited the use of cell phones while driving. Those states are lucky their lawmakers care for their lives. There are 40 countries that prohibit cell phones while driving. Forty countries can't be wrong.

More proof: Leaving an innocent child alone in a car is only a misdemeanor. Why is this not a felony? No protection for infants.

Our state needs new people in office who care for you and your 'ohana.

DRIVERS, PEDESTRIANS: USE COMMON SENSE

Precautions need to be taken by both drivers and pedestrians. Enough of the blame game.

I've seen drivers rush to make a right-hand turn directly in front of pedestrians who were already in the crosswalk, but I've also seen pedestrians walk boldly into a crosswalk without even a glance at oncoming traffic.

What happened to stopping momentarily to check traffic before proceeding into the crosswalk? Come on, people, all it takes is a little common sense, which obviously seems to be lacking here.

Common sense tells you that if a collision takes place, the car — not the pedestrian — is going to win. Are a few seconds you save by rushing worth it? I think not.

READING

ACCESSIBLE LIBRARIES WILL HELP HAWAI'I KEIKI

Bravo for The Advertiser. Your call for shifting public library hours to more nights and weekends is spot on. This is when working families can get to libraries.

Rutgers University research shows this counts a lot. It shows there is a single best thing a parent can do for their children to become "high-interest" readers. It is to take children regularly to the library.

Of course, a high-interest reader will likely become a better student, stay in school, get a college scholarship, be healthier, not get into trouble, have a good job and be a better citizen.

RAIL DEBATE

ELEVATED BUS LANES WOULD BE CHEAPER

We are hearing pro-rail ads every day now on the radio and TV. One claim that is brought out in many of these ads is that building rail is cheaper than building elevated bus lanes.

This claim is hard to believe. Let's look at some of the expenses of elevated rail and elevated bus lanes.

Rail will require elevated electric tracks, complex train controllers, two platforms 30 feet by 270 feet long for each of the 20 stations, station staff and station police at each station, ADA access to all stations, extensive land for a test track, million-dollar rail cars that will consume the same energy in 30 years as they do today and an entirely new maintenance facility.

Buses on elevated lanes need no electric tracks, no complex controllers, no stations or station platforms, no ADA access to each station, no station police, no station staff, no land for a test track, and no new maintenance facilities. Transit buses will consume less energy in 30 years than they do today.

There has never been any suggestion by any anti-rail group that elevated bus lanes have stations. Rail will stop at every station. Buses on elevated lanes will have the ability to use all or part of the lanes without any station stops.

NOT THE TIME TO APPLY YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION

Washington, D.C.'s rail project being portrayed as similar to Honolulu plans is disingenuous.

The similarities of cost and scope are the same. But that is all that's similar.

The commuters coming from the Dulles Airport area have many other alternative routes, and once they have reached the Beltway they can park and ride at a Metro station. They do not face the daily gridlock of West O'ahu commuters, except by choice, whereas the citizens of O'ahu have no real alternative.

These are not similar projects, principally because they vastly differ in how badly they are needed.

When the capacity was needed 25 years ago in the Dulles area, it was manageable with a toll road.

If we had built more lanes 25 years ago, we would still be looking at a transit system today, we just would have suffered less.

More importantly, a toll road or HOT lanes solution will not alleviate Downtown vehicle traffic, in fact it may make it worse. We already are seeing crosswalks removed, HOV-2 increased to HOV-3, and we can expect Downtown gridlock to intensify in the years to come.

Now is not the time to apply yesterday's solution.

RAIL IS THE ANSWER TO TRAFFIC LOGJAM HERE

My husband and I just returned from a Mainland trip. While there we were in three cities (Portland, Ore., Minneapolis and San Francisco) that have a rail system, and we made a point to experience "a ride on the rail." We asked a few questions as well.

Without question all three trains were efficient, economical, easy to understand, clean, comfortable and so much fun. (In fact Portland's Max is free in the downtown area!)

We listened for "sound" and neither train was any louder than a big truck on the road or the sound of traffic near a freeway.

I am no expert, but all I saw was an answer to the logjam on our freeways and a way out of the increasing price of gasoline.

It seems to me this town is made for mass transit — a long skinny corridor with mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Why is it so difficult to make the decision to alleviate the traffic woes in Hawai'i?

WHY AREN'T SUPPORTERS RIDING THEBUS NOW?

Even on Maui we see ads about the O'ahu rail project. People appear on the screen and say how much faster their commutes could be with the new rail system, and that sounds great.

But one question springs to mind: Why aren't these people already riding on the bus? Aren't there one or more bus routes that travel near the proposed rail route?

Wouldn't more bus service help ameliorate the traffic congestion at a much lower price than rail?

Maybe if some of the rail supporters in west O'ahu would get out of their cars and onto the bus their commuting problems would solve themselves. (Just think of the bus as a small train with rubber wheels).

RAIL WILL HAVE NEGATIVE RAMIFICATIONS ON O'AHU

The July 26 letter from Rep. Sharon E. Har stated that the master plan for Kapolei will include a major increase in job growth, soaring new business additions, new government projects, etc.

Why then is it such a necessity to have a rail to bring residents of the "second city" back to the "first city?"

It seems that Kapolei will be a self-contained community, hence reducing the traffic congestion headed to and from Downtown Honolulu. Do Mayor Mufi Hannemann and the city powers have a hidden financial or political agenda in trying to "railroad" the rail system down our throats with their endless advertisements?

Please let the tax-paying citizens decide this important issue. The impact of a rail system on this small island will have tremendous negative ramifications.

DRUG TESTING

A UNION CONTRACT IS A PROMISE TO BE KEPT

HSTA agreed to a contract that included increased wages and also random drug testing.

A year later, HSTA has decided they don't like the agreement. Unionized teachers should think long and hard about the dues they are paying and the representation they are receiving. In other words, "grow up," a contract is a contract, it is a promise. Stop whining, start teaching.

Although a bit different, remember Ronald Reagan's handling of the air traffic controller issues? He fired them all, rehired more and life went on for the better. Maybe this should be an option.

Another consideration would be to hire someone like Michelle Rhee, chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools ("D.C. school system undergoes reform," July 22).

Let teachers earn bonuses for success and give them the latitude to achieve this end; goodbye to the safety of tenure.