It’s not the first time in recent years that Hawaii has been pegged as the most dangerous state for senior pedestrians, but a new report out Tuesday once more gives the Aloha State that dubious distinction.
According to Smart Growth America’s "Dangerous by Design 2014," Hawaii has the highest fatality rate in the nation per capita for older pedestrians, with 6.81 deaths per every 100,000 adults 65 and older from 2003 to 2010.
It’s even more dangerous for pedestrians in Hawaii 75 or older, who have a fatality rate of 9.75 per 100,000, the report found.
The group’s analysis is based on injury statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and prepared with help from the national senior advocacy nonprofit AARP.
"Today’s report is a reminder of the need to redouble our efforts to ensure the safety of Hawaii residents," AARP Hawaii state Director Barbara Kim Stanton said in a statement Tuesday. "The majority of pedestrian deaths occur on roadways that are dangerous by design — engineered for speeding traffic with little to no provision for the safety of people walking, biking or using public transit."
A separate study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration previously listed the state as having the highest rate of fatalities involving pedestrians 65 or older from 2007 to 2011. In that period the state saw a rate of 5 deaths a year per 100,000 seniors, the study found.
On Oahu, which includes the state’s densest urban area, Honolulu city officials passed a "complete streets" ordinance in 2012 — in part to help make the island safer for its aging population.
The measure requires city planners to include walking and bicycling considerations in planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of transportation projects — including streets, sidewalks, traffic control devices, signage and public transit facilities. Transit officials aim to finish three complete-street demonstration projects this year, including a quarter-mile stretch of Ulune Street in Aiea that was revamped earlier this year.
They aim to identify 20 more demonstration sites in the future, city Department of Transportation Services Director Mike Formby said Tuesday. City officials are further working to qualify Honolulu as an "age-friendly" city under a World Health Organization program by improving its public spaces, transportation options and meeting other criteria, Formby said.
DTS is also looking at ways to make safer a stretch of North King Street in Kalihi where two recent fatal accidents occurred, Formby said. Given the state’s year-round temperate weather and a large senior population, "I would expect our statistics, unfortunately, to be high," he said. Nonetheless, city officials strive to make conditions safer for the island’s kupuna, he added.
