The past week has been a stunningly deadly one on Hawaii’s roads — with fatalities on Oahu and Maui, including incidents involving pairs of innocent elderly victims.
On Thursday, a collision on H-1 led to the deaths of an 81-year-old woman and her 85-year-old passenger, killed when their car was rear-ended then spun into the path of another car. While the deadly crash did not appear to involve speeding, alcohol or drugs, the Honolulu Police Department reports that most traffic-related deaths this year did involve those factors.
Indeed, speed seems to have played a role in Wednesday’s fiery, head-on collision on Honoapiilani Highway in Lahaina, Maui, that killed three. Driver Lui Williams, 81, and his wife, Lena Williams, 75, of Lahaina, were killed when Giovanni Suarez, 22, of Kihei crossed the centerline and collided with their Kia Soul headed in the opposite direction.
These tragedies, plus a traffic fatality in Wahiawa early Sunday that pushed this year’s deadly toll on Oahu to 31, as compared to 27 at this time last year, must be a wake-up call for all who use Hawaii’s roads — drivers, pedestrians and others.
The Wahiawa incident occurred when a man, 56, attempted to cross Wilikina Drive and was struck by a car driven by a 46-year-old woman. Sadly and ironically, that traffic death occurred on the first Sunday in August, Hawaii’s designated Pedestrian Safety Month. We can, and must, do better.
Traffic deaths have occurred despite both state and local efforts to highlight traffic safety, and to use engineering methods to calm traffic. Continued attention to saving lives and driving with aloha is crucial.
With students returning to schools this month, HPD is emphasizing the lifesaving power of driving sober.
Preventing traffic deaths must start with drivers, because vehicles, by their sheer size and weight, pose deadly risks to those around them. It’s imperative that drivers keep safety top of mind, by following all traffic rules, including speed limits and right of way rules, and also watching for unexpected dangers, such as other speeding vehicles or unsafe pedestrian behavior.
Pedestrians also have responsibilities. It is never advisable to walk into traffic, or to assume a driver will see a pedestrian, even in a crosswalk; wait until making eye contact with a driver or verifying that traffic is stopped before stepping out.
Speeding is a widespread problem in Hawaii: A state survey showed that most Hawaii drivers admit to driving 5 to 10 miles an hour over the speed limit regularly, despite statewide efforts to educate drivers. Other risky driving habits include distracted driving — particularly driving while using a cellphone — and following cars too closely.
Sunday’s pedestrian death on Wilikina Drive occurred on a stretch where cars transition between highway speeds and a more pedestrian-friendly velocity. There are rumble strips at highway’s end — and cars must heed them, not speed through.
Fencing or landscaping can discourage jaywalking, as it does along certain stretches of Ala Moana Boulevard. So can sidewalks and bike lanes that are physically separated from a roadway, and/or use visual features such as reflective safety poles at road’s edge, blinking caution lights and improved crosswalks.
And narrowing roadways, along with “speed humps,” maligned by many drivers who fear damage to their car’s suspension or undercarriage, are nevertheless a proven, effective tool for traffic calming.
The state and city should use all tools at their disposal to make roads safer and to steer island drivers toward safer behavior. At the same time, the responsibility falls to all street users — pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and drivers alike — to understand the deadly risks of a collision and to take proactive measures to avoid causing, or falling victim, to one.
