On O'ahu, there were 81 fatalities last year, compared with 68 a year earlier.

Honolulu police Sgt. Robert Lung of the traffic investigation division said the increase occurred despite one fewer fatal accident in 2003. He said that last year, 67 crashes caused 81 deaths, compared to 68 fatal accidents in 2002.

So far this year. O'ahu has had 41 fatalities, compared with 49 at the same date last year.

On the national level, fewer people were killed or injured on U.S. highways last year, a decline that regulators said owed much to an increase in seat-belt use and a decrease in accidents involving drunken drivers.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said 42,643 people died in traffic crashes in 2003, down 362 from the previous year.

The drop is more striking for the fact that people did more driving in 2003. When measured by estimated miles driven, deaths per 100 million miles fell to 1.48, the lowest level since record-keeping began in 1966.

The head of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Dr. Jeffrey Runge, said the data indicate that the agency's emphasis on seat belts and drunken driving is having some effect. A $25 million seat-belt ad campaign and police checkpoints helped increase belt use to an all-time high of 79 percent in 2003.

Drunken driving deaths also fell for the first time since 1999. Runge said it helped that 14 states adopted the tougher blood-alcohol standard of 0.08 last year.

On O'ahu, alcohol was blamed for 49 percent of last year's traffic deaths, up from 2002's 25 percent, Lung said. Of the 81 people who died, 24 were wearing seat belts, he said.