South Maui was not a good place to be last week if you are inclined to speed, have an expired inspection sticker, have a loud muffler or drive around in a vehicle with a tad too much tint on its windows.
The Maui Police Department issued an astonishing 604 citations from Feb. 6 through 10 in a crackdown called "Operation Safe and Quiet Community."
Most incredible to us was the issuance of 263 tickets for loud mufflers. My goodness, we thought glasspacks went out in the early 1960s. Apparently there is a successor or two to the loud non-mufflers of our youth.
Wednesday's story about the police operation talked about fines ranging from $77 for the loud mufflers to $287 per window for illegal tinting.
The South Maui exercise followed a similar crackdown in Central Maui last month when 386 citations were issued over a four-day period.
The police were not just ticketing folks for noisy mufflers and dark windows, though - some 284 citations were issued for obvious safety concerns like running red lights, ignoring rights of way and speeding.
Traffic Section Commander Lt. David Silva told the newspaper's reporter that the police are going to remain "out there, we're going to be proactive."
He also warned those that were cited last week and last month that they had better correct the violations.
"You can get cited the next day if the problem is not rectified."
The police operation was a response to requests from the public at a town hall meeting in Kihei asking for a crackdown there like the one in Central Maui.
Since the cops averaged 120 citations a day last week in South Maui, we'd say the residents got what they asked for.
* Editorials reflect the opinion of the publisher.
