“Beyond the Ticket” report imagines traffic enforcement reforms to reduce harm
Hawaiʻi comes down hard on minor traffic violations that pose little to no threat to the public; this punitive approach does little to advance public safety, harming struggling communities instead.
HONOLULU, Hawaiʻi — Each day an estimated 50,000 Americans are pulled over by the police while driving, making traffic stops the most common way people interact with the criminal legal system. While there is little data on the enforcement of other roadway users, we know that pedestrians and bicyclists also interact with police frequently. For pedestrians, this often occurs because of jaywalking laws.
Over the last 6 years, roughly 30,000 jaywalking tickets were given across Hawaiʻi, or roughly 5,000 jaywalking tickets given per year. The vast majority of these tickets were given out in urban Honolulu, and particularly in neighborhoods where many families are struggling with the cost of living.
The top five zip codes in Hawaiʻi with the highest per capita number of jaywalking tickets are 96814 (Waikīkī–Ala Moana), 96815 (Kapahulu–Diamond Head), 96817 (Kalihi–Pālama), 96813 (Nuʻuanu–Downtown–Chinatown), and 96826 (McCully–Mōʻiliʻili). While there were little to no jaywalking tickets given in most zip codes in Hawaiʻi, in some there were hundreds to thousands of tickets given every year. For example, in 2023 there were 2,885 jaywalking tickets given in the 96815 zip code alone, resulting in $360,677 in assessed fines and fees.
In Hawaiʻi, fines and fees for jaywalking typically range between $130 and $180. These steep fines disproportionately harm low-income individuals who often lack the resources to pay the fines upfront. When they can't pay, additional fees and penalties accumulate. As such, jaywalking penalties can lead to cycles of debt and damaged court records, increasing the likelihood that these individuals and their families will experience poverty.
“There is a growing recognition that a heavy-handed police enforcement approach to minor offenses is expensive and ineffective at improving roadway safety,” said Abbey Seitz, Hawaiʻi Appleseed Director of Transportation Equity. “This approach can lead to cycles of debt, damaging court records and, in some cases, violent interactions with police, arrests and even incarceration. National data shows that it is communities of color that bear the brunt of these impacts—particularly violent policing.”
Hawaiʻi Appleseed research from 2024 has shown that jaywalking penalties do little to make our streets safer for either pedestrians or drivers. A new report digs deeper, examining other minor traffic violations in Hawaiʻi’s criminal legal-system and their impacts on public safety and cycles of poverty.
“Beyond the Ticket: Recommendations for a More Equitable Traffic Enforcement System” confirms Hawaiʻi’s current system of traffic enforcement gives out harsh penalties for offenses that pose little risk to the public. The focus on these minor offenses means less attention and resources are given to shifts in street design, which do a far better job of improving roadway safety and advancing transportation equity.
“Beyond the Ticket” also examines reforms that other jurisdictions have put into place and makes recommendations on how Hawaiʻi can move away from costly, ineffective enforcement of minor traffic offenses and toward a holistic approach to road safety that promotes transportation equity and reduces the harm that contact with the criminal-legal system can cause.
Those recommendations are, in brief:
Require the police to collect demographic data for all stops, not just arrests;
Eliminate unnecessary enforcement of pedestrians and bicyclists;
Reclassify certain minor traffic infractions as “secondary violations” that cannot be used as pretextual stops;
Automatically seal traffic infraction records when cases are closed;
Create a fines/fees system that is income-based instead of relying on flat fees; and
Explore the establishment of non-police first responder teams whose mission is traffic and road safety, not criminal law enforcement.
Download the report here.
