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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 23, 2003

State ranks among worst in pedestrian safety

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Hawai'i pedestrians are being killed at one of the highest rates in the country, according to a new federal report.

One dangerous intersection for O'ahu pedestrians is at Kekaulike and North King Street in Chinatown. Over the past 17 years, Hawai'i has seen an average of two pedestrians hurt or killed every day.

Advertiser library photo • Dec. 31, 2002

The report, released yesterday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says Hawai'i had the fifth-highest pedestrian fatalities per capita in 2001, the last year for which full figures are available.

The news came as little surprise, however, to officials here who have been struggling to develop a strategy to reduce such accidents.

"There's no magic wand to solve the problem. We need a total community effort to stop this," said Alvin Takeshita, acting head of the state's Traffic Branch, a division of the Department of Transportation.

While pedestrian accidents have been declining nationwide in recent years, they have remained relatively high in Hawai'i, officials said.

In the last 17 years, more than 400 pedestrians have been killed and more than 11,000 injured in motor vehicle accidents. That comes to an average of almost two pedestrians hurt or killed every day.

Officials say several factors contribute to the problem, including a high proportion of pedestrians and elderly, densely populated urban neighborhoods, new housing areas developing along fast-moving highways and speeding and alcohol use by many motorists.

"We lost another member just two months ago, when she tried to cross School Street and was hit by a car," said Drusilla Tanaka, program director of the Lanakila Senior Citizens Center. The 73-year-old victim was crossing against a red light outside the crosswalk around dusk when she was hit. The car was not speeding, police said.

Nationwide, a typical fatality involves a single vehicle hitting a pedestrian, who is statistically most likely to be an elderly man who has been drinking, walking at night in an urban area where there is no intersection. Hit-and-run accidents account for nearly 1 in 5 deaths, and nearly half of all fatalities occur on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

In Hawai'i, more fatal accidents occur in daylight in crowded neighborhoods near intersections. Drinking, at least by pedestrians, is less likely to be a contributing factor, and hit-and-run fatalities are rare here, Takeshita said.

The national report studied fatal pedestrian accidents from 1991 to 2001, and included data from state officials. It suggests a multi-pronged effort to reduce such accidents.

"A comprehensive approach employing engineering, education and enforcement" is required, the report says.

When the researchers looked more closely at fatalities in urban areas, Honolulu's core did not fare so badly. It ranked 100th out of 245 cities.

In recent years, the city has built many traffic islands and traffic-calming devices and installed several dozen "countdown" pedestrian walk signals, said Cheryl Soon, city director of transportation services.

Police, meanwhile, have concentrated their efforts on educating pedestrians, said Maj. Bryan Wauke, head of the Honolulu Police Department's Traffic Division.

"Right now we see education as the real key, and more effective than enforcement," Wauke said. "We've been routinely visiting senior citizen groups, schools and elsewhere to remind them to be aware of the problem."