The medical examiner’s office said Carlos Vela died at The Queen’s Medical Center at 12:52 a.m. Vela’s death is the eighth traffic fatality on O'ahu in the last 11 days.

Police today were also investigating a crash on the H-1 Freeway this morning near the westbound Pearl City off-ramp in which two people were critically injured.

A car veered on the highway and struck a tree at 8:34 a.m., police said. The crash forced the closure of H-1 Freeway between the Waimalu and Pearl City off-ramps for several hours.

Speed appears to be a factor in five of the seven crashes in October that have resulted in eight deaths. "Speed is an attitude so it’s preventable," vehicular homicide investigation Lt. Bennett Martin said of the fatal crashes.

Police yesterday charged a 23-year-old man with several misdemeanor traffic offenses, including racing on the highway. Christopher A. Entendencia was arrested in Ma'ili and booked for reckless driving, resisting an order to stop and racing on the highway.

Police said the number of auto fatalities involving speeding on O'ahu jumped sharply this year despite a police crackdown targeting racers and other speeders.

On Sunday, two teenagers were killed in an Ala Moana Boulevard crash that initial reports say involved racing, prompting new calls for even stronger laws against excessive speeding.

More than 81 percent of O'ahu’s 65 traffic deaths this year involved speeding. In a normal year, the figure is closer to 60 percent or 70 percent, said Maj. Bryan Wauke, head of the Honolulu Police Department’s Traffic Investigation Division.

The increase in speeding-related deaths comes even though officials have dramatically stepped up enforcement efforts.

Through July 31, Honolulu police had issued 20,302 tickets for speeding. That compares with 28,547 issued in all of 2002, Wauke said. The number of tickets through July 31 for racing — a much harder charge to bring — also rose to 227 from the 202 issued last year.

The increased police efforts have not been able to stem the number of deaths and injuries where racing or other speeding has been involved. Among the cases where street racing is suspected this year:

• Two men were killed early Sunday morning when their Honda crossed the centerline of Ala Moana Boulevard and crashed into a sport utility vehicle. Witnesses told police that another car, also speeding, was seen traveling in front of the Honda before it crashed, said Lt. Bennett Martin, head of the vehicular homicide unit. The men were identified by friends as Ryan Kono, 19, one of the founding members of a Honolulu yo-yo team, and Andrew Ngan, 20.

• Five people died in March when their speeding car swerved off a highway near Hale'iwa. The driver appeared to be chasing another car on the road before it crashed, according to witnesses.

• A 25-year-old man was killed and three others were injured in a two-car crash on Farrington Highway near Makua Cave in August in what police said at the time was an accident that appeared to involve racing.

• Two men were seriously injured last month in Ma'ili when they lost control of their vehicle, which apparently was racing another car.

"Speeding has been our biggest concern this year," Wauke said. "We’re out there with saturation patrols, but some people still haven’t got the message."

Several key state lawmakers said yesterday the Legislature has to do more to help police crack down on speeding.

"It’s a crying shame when you see 16- or 17-year-old kids out there dying because they haven’t got the word," said Sen. Cal Kawamoto, head of the Senate Transportation Committee. "We’ve got to do something to get their attention. We’ve got to do whatever we can."

Rep. Kirk Caldwell, vice chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and several other House members said yesterday they would introduce tougher legislation next year for speeding offenses, including letting judges order forfeiture of a vehicle following a first conviction for speeding 30 mph or more over the limit.

"A lot of these people being young, they believe they’re invincible," said Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa). Caldwell said he wants forfeiture to apply only to a vehicle actually owned by a speeder, not one owned by a parent or someone else. Innocent owners should not be penalized, he said.

Public defender John Tonaki said taking a vehicle away following a first offense is "a rather draconian response" to the situation. "My initial reaction is we can’t overreact and be, in a sense, over-paternalistic over the community," he said.

Speeders are hit not just with traffic citations, but penalized by their insurance companies as well, Tonaki said.

Kawamoto, D-18th (Waipahu-Crestview-Pearl City) said legislation allowing forfeiture after a second offense died in the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, in part because police said they didn’t have the resources to enforce the law.

The current legislation, enacted in 2002, allows judges to impose forfeiture after three speeding offenses during a five-year span. It also calls for losing the right to drive for up to three years. A first conviction carries a maximum fine of $2,000 and up to one year of imprisonment for exceeding the posted speed limit by 30 mph or more.

While police have increased the number of speeding and racing citations, meeting the standards of the racing law in court is very difficult, police said.

Neither man killed in the Sunday morning crash was wearing a seat belt and both were ejected from the vehicle, Martin said.

The Honda they were in appeared to be speeding, but police have not yet determined how fast it was going.

One man in the SUV was hospitalized in critical condition at The Queen’s Medical Center; two others in the vehicle were listed in good condition.

The current anti-racing law was passed after the death of Elizabeth Kekoa, who died in August 2001 after her family’s van was struck by a driver allegedly racing along H-1 Freeway in Kaimuki.

Police arrested the driver of the car, Nicholas Tudisco, who was 18 at the time. Police said he appeared to be speeding and racing.

Police yesterday said they are still waiting to see if charges will be brought in that case.