Speed limits and traffic calming in parks and school zones

(a) A person may not drive a vehicle on any roadway within public parks and public school grounds at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent, having due regard for the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the roadway, and in no event at a speed in excess of 20 miles per hour on any roadway within public parks, except that on Ala Moana Park Drive, on any roadway in Kailua Beach Park, and on any roadway within public school grounds, the speed limit is 15 miles per hour. (b) The director of transportation services is authorized and directed to erect and maintain sign posts indicating the speed limit herein established at each roadway entrance into any public park and public school grounds. The department of parks and recreation and the State department of education may erect and maintain signs other than traffic control signs at appropriate places along the roadways within their respective jurisdictions. (c) The director of transportation services is authorized and directed to evaluate and implement the installation of traffic calming measures, including speed humps and raised crosswalks, in school zones. The director shall use the following criteria to determine if a traffic measure is appropriate: (1) Whether an area is identified as high-risk for pedestrian accidents or where the speed limit is reduced to 20 miles per hour, especially during school hours; and (2) Whether a comprehensive traffic safety assessment has been conducted that considers factors such as pedestrian traffic, vehicle speed, and accident history. The director of transportation services shall notify the local community and school administrations of planned installations and solicit feedback to ensure that the community’s needs and concerns are addressed. (d) Further, a person may not in any parking area maintained within public parks and public school grounds drive a vehicle recklessly or negligently or at a speed or in such manner as to endanger or injure persons or property. (e) Whenever the director of transportation services determines upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that any maximum speed limit hereinafter set forth is greater than is reasonable or safe under the conditions found to exist upon any part of a highway, the director of transportation services may post a recommended safe speed thereat which will serve as a guide to vehicle drivers at all times when they are using the highway and which will be effectively illuminated or reflectorized for visibility at night. (f) Whenever the director of transportation services determines, either at the director’s initiative or in response to a written request by a representative of a school, that a roadway within 1,000 feet of a school is utilized by students going to, moving within, or leaving the school, the director may post a recommended safe speed thereat, which will serve as a guide to vehicle drivers at all times when students are using the roadway. )