The news about traffic-related deaths in Hawaii has been alarming in recent years, the only upbeat thing to report being an accelerated move to do something about it.

Traffic deaths that had dipped somewhat during the pandemic years bounced up again in 2022 and are on pace to surpass even that this year. Last year’s total of 117 eclipsed the 94 traffic-related fatalities recorded in 2021, according to state Department of Transportation figures.

Following three more weekend fatalities, Oahu’s death toll so far in 2023 stands at 19, compared with 16 at this point last year.

The record, already horrifying to Honolulu residents, includes the Feb. 15 hit-and-run on Kapiolani Boulevard that killed McKinley High School junior Sara Yara. The suspected driver, who turned himself in two days later, had 184 previous citations and was driving without a license.

If nothing else, this appalling case underscores the need to crack down more forcefully on repeat offenders.

However, there has been at least a show of resolve by state and city authorities to make the streets safer — initiatives that deserve public support. These include everything from traffic-calming devices such as neighborhood traffic circles and the raised “hump” crosswalks compelling a slowdown where speeding cars cross paths with pedestrians.

There are improvements such as the two-year pilot program in which the DOT has deployed red-light cameras at 10 busy intersections.

The city Department of Transportation Services (DTS) turned the spotlight on traffic safety at a December public workshop that’s part of its “Complete Streets” initiative. The aim is to develop what’s called the Honolulu Vision Zero Action Plan (honolulu.gov/completestreets/visionzero), defining actions “to reduce and ultimately eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on our streets by 2035.”

Among the startling Oahu traffic trends brought to light in the Vision Zero presentation: There has been roughly one traffic death every week for the last 10 years, and the greatest concentration of crashes causing death or serious injury are in Honolulu’s urban core.

Further, even though pedestrians comprise only 15% of those affected by crashes islandwide, pedestrians make up 36% of those killed. In particular, kupuna 65 and older make up 41% of pedestrians killed.

That’s why the Honolulu “Complete Streets” program improvements planned in the Keeaumoku Street corridor make sense (honolulu.gov/completestreets/keeaumoku).

DTS is proposing protected bike lanes, pedestrian- crossing upgrades and various traffic-calming measures between Wilder Avenue on the mauka end to Kapiolani Boulevard.

That entire stretch is classified as a top-tier pedestrian-injury hazard area, with seven intersections that have high pedestrian injury rates.

The work already has begun with an infusion of private dollars, a model that should be considered during many other urban-infill projects. Developers of the Azure Ala Moana luxury condo complex have funded a “Barnes Dance” reconfiguration of the Keeaumoku/Makaloa Street intersection, allowing safer pedestrian crossings at longer intervals.

Welcome as all of this action is, people are happy to complain about it all the same. They may not like the red-light cameras or the many new raised crosswalks slowing their commutes through busy stretches that are already congested by traffic and roadwork.

But drivers, who often ignore speed limits, seemingly won’t slow down until they’re forced to do so. Hawaii can’t ignore this brutal truth: We need these improvements to save each precious life that otherwise can be lost to traffic crashes.