The “100 deadly days of summer” is underway, with the number of traffic deaths on Hawaii roadways having now surpassed those from the same time last year.
State officials have tallied 59 traffic-related deaths in roughly the first seven months of 2024, 10 more than the same time in 2023, according to preliminary statistics from the Hawaii Department of Transportation.
Of those 59 deaths, DOT said, 12 involved excessive speeding, eight were due to suspected impairment and reckless driving behaviors such as not wearing a helmet, and seven due to multiple factors.
Other contributing factors include unsafe lane changes, unexpected pedestrian crossings, not wearing a seat belt, and criminal activity.
“Safety is not just about you as an individual driver, rider, or pedestrian,” said DOT Director Ed Sniffen in the news release. “Making choices to speed or use your phone can forever change your life or the life of someone on the road with you. We all need to work together to extend the number of days without a death on the road.”
To raise awareness, DOT said it will begin displaying the number of days since the last traffic-related death on its electronic message boards.
As of today, that number would be six, when a 19-year-old motorcyclist died after broadsiding a vehicle on Kapiolani Boulevard.
The collision occurred Friday, according to Honolulu police. The motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The “100 deadliest days of summer” refers to the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, a stretch with a history of spikes in traffic-related collisions, injuries and deaths.
This has proven to be true, with about 15 more traffic-related deaths in Hawaii within the one-month span between the end of June and the end of July.
DOT said approximately 40% of victims killed on Hawaii roads are vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists. Six were homeless.
So far this year, there have been seven more pedestrian deaths, at 20, compared with the same time last year. There has been one more bicyclist fatality, at four, compared with three at the same time last year.
Hawaii island has seen the greatest jump in traffic-related deaths, with double the number, at 21, compared with 10 at the same time last year.
On Oahu, police are looking for suspects in several hit-and-runs, including the driver of a white commercial dump-truck that in the early hours of July 18 struck and killed a 32-year-old woman while heading north on Kamehameha Highway, past Castle Junction.
The driver fled the scene, and the woman, who was struck while walking partially in the roadway, first by one vehicle, and then the commercial truck, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police are also searching for a man involved in a hit-and-run on Oahu’s North Shore on Monday that left a 27-year-old woman in critical condition.
The man was possibly driving a dark-colored, four-door sedan, according to police. He allegedly struck the woman as she tried to cross the highway near Comsat Access Road in Haleiwa. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
In the last few days of July, a moped operator and motorcyclist were also critically injured in collisions on Oahu highways.
TRAFFIC-RELATED DEATHS IN HAWAII
Jan. 1 to July 30, 2024
>> State: 20 motor vehicle occupants; 20 pedestrians; 15 motorcycle/moped operators; 4 bicyclists (59 total)
>> Honolulu County: 4 motor vehicle occupant; 8 pedestrians; 7 motorcycle/moped operators; 4 bicyclists (23 total)
>> Hawaii County: 13 motor vehicle occupants; 5 pedestrians; 3 motorcyclists (21 total)
>> Maui County: 1 motor vehicle ocuppant, 5 pedestrians; 4 motorcyclists (10 total)
>> Kauai County: 2 motor vehicle occupants; 2 pedestrians; 1 motorcyclist (5 total)
Source: Hawaii Department of Transportation
