By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Several hundred students, parents, teachers and others will be in front of Aliamanu Elementary and Intermediate schools this morning urging drivers to slow down.

From 6:30 to 8 a.m., the students and others will be waving signs they made in recent weeks to help speeding drivers think about the dangers they pose in school zones.

The "Hot Spots" effort is sponsored by AIG Hawai'i, one of the state's biggest auto insurance companies, which is worried about the increasing number of serious accidents caused by speeding.

The program started in November when more than 200 people rose early in the morning to spread the word about traffic safety outside Dole Intermediate School in Kalihi. And because words aren't always enough, police were there to hand out tickets to motorists who were caught driving between 37 mph to 46 mph in the 25-mph school zone.

School officials expect more than 250 people to participate in this morning's session along Salt Lake Boulevard, where speeding has increased as the road has been widened and become a major thoroughfare in recent years.

Police will be there again, too. They plan to set up an electronic speed monitor to make motorists aware of how fast they are going; for those who don't get that message, officers will be handing out tickets. (By the way, the Legislature last year raised fines for speeding in school zones to $250).

Among the locations for other "Hot Spots" events in coming months are Pearl City Elementary on Waimano Home Road; Kamiloiki Elementary on Hawai'i Kai Drive; King Intermediate on Kamehameha Highway and Royal Elementary on Queen Emma Street. Others who wish to participate in a future "Hot Spots" program should contact the AIG Hawai'i Community Relations Department at 544-3930.

Auto policy change

Speaking of insurance companies, State Farm, the nation's No. 1 auto insurer, said last week it will no longer cover damage to cars from nuclear or radioactive blasts.

The company made the announcement after a review of its terrorist-related coverage showed that its auto policies lacked the exclusion, a standard feature of most personal and commercial insurance policies.

Most insurance companies have had nuclear exclusions in their policies since the Cold War flared up with the former Soviet Union in the 1940s and 1950s. They say they simply couldn't withstand the losses that would result from a nuclear attack.

State Farm originally had the exclusion, but removed it in the early 1980s; the new language will be added to all State Farm auto policies by June 2004. State Farm's commercial and homeowners coverage already carry the exclusion.

Survey finds kids at risk

And speaking of auto safety, federal officials say too many infants and young children are being placed at risk by riding in the front seat of vehicles.

A survey by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration found 15 percent of infants were riding in the front seat, where they are at increased risk from crashes or from deploying air bags, even when they are in infant seats.

The survey found 10 percent of 1- to 3-year-olds and 29 percent of 4- to 7-year-olds also were riding in the front seat. NHTSA and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children 12 and under ride in the back seat.

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column runs Tuesdays. Reach him at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.