Speeding deaths increase despite HPD crackdown

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

The number of auto fatalities involving speeding on O'ahu has jumped sharply this year despite a police crackdown targeting racers and other speeders, officials said yesterday.

A memorial of flowers, balloons and photos marks the spot of a fatal accident on Ala Moana Boulevard near Keawe Street that killed Andrew Ngan and Ryan Kono on Sunday. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

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 19-year-old 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, one of the founding members of a Honolulu yo-yo team, and Andrew Ngan.
• 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). "They don't think they're going to speed and that they're going to die or injure somebody else. But they are afraid of being caught."

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.

"You've also got to remember that laws pertaining to civil liability also take care of a lot of these situations," Tonaki said. "The ramifications could potentially be a lot more serious than the loss of a vehicle."

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.

"Speeding is a pretty specific section of the law; racing is more open to interpretation by judges and prosecutors," Martin said.

Under the law, police need to prove that the driver was going at least 30 mph over the posted speed limit and that another vehicle was involved. Often by the time police catch up to a racer, the car's speed has dropped and the other vehicle has disappeared.

Wauke said he did not know how many of the citations for racing in the past two years have resulted in convictions.

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 at the time of the accident, he said. The speed limit on Ala Moana is 35 mph.

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, which focused public attention on the issue of Hawai'i's street-racing culture and related accidents.

Police concluded an 18-month investigation into the accident earlier this year and referred the case to the city Prosecutor's Office for action, Wauke said.

Prosecutors are still reviewing the case, a Prosecutor's Office spokesman said yesterday.

Advertiser staff writer Gordon Pang contributed to this story. Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.