Jaywalking a problem on stretch of 'Aiea highway
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
PEARL CITY — A stretch of Kamehameha Highway here where two pedestrians were killed by cars in less than 24 hours is known for the number of people trying to race from one side to the other, police and community officials said yesterday.
Jaywalking in the area, with its wide highway and fast-moving traffic, is "like playing Russian roulette," said police Capt. Stephen Kim of the Pearl City patrol district.
The latest accident occurred about 7 p.m. Wednesday when a 39-year-old
man wearing dark clothing tried to run across Kamehameha Highway about one-tenth of a mile from Honomanu Street and was struck by an eastbound pickup truck.
The accident was near a similar one that occurred Tuesday night. In that case Steven Tanaka, a 52-year-old Pearl City resident, was killed when he tried to cross the highway and was hit by a car near Lipoa Place.
Six of O'ahu's 11 traffic deaths this year have been pedestrians. Four of the pedestrian fatalities have occurred in the Pearl City/'Aiea area.
Neither of the two victims this week was in a crosswalk despite one just a few hundred feet away in both cases.
"People just get frustrated and lazy. Then they get careless and try to take a shortcut across the highway," said Albert Fukushima, chairman of the Pearl City Neighborhood Board.
In each case, the highway is seven lanes wide with a landscaped medial strip at the point of the accident, officials said. There are large shopping complexes and restaurants and businesses on both sides of the road.
"Motorists are getting frustrated, too," Fukushima said. "The traffic is getting worse on the highway and they can't really see if someone runs out from between the bushes."
By mid-afternoon yesterday, there were no signs left of either accident, but more than a half-dozen pedestrians were seen crossing the highway during breaks in the traffic in less than a half-hour period.
At one point, two elderly women carrying shopping bags hurried through three lanes of traffic just a few feet from the scene of Tuesday night's fatality. They paused on the medial strip, then walked across four more lanes of traffic.
Once on the sidewalk, they headed toward Lipoa Place, several hundred feet away, where there was a stop light and crosswalk.
"No one likes to walk from where the bus drops you off back to the stop light," said Carlton Duncans, who works at the
Pearl Kai Shopping Center. "They're impatient and tired, and the light takes forever to change sometimes. It's worse at night because people can't be seen at all."
Department of Transportation officials said the half-mile stretch of road between Honomanu Street and Lipoa Place, which includes three stop lights, has not been a particularly dangerous one in the past despite the high number of jaywalking pedestrians.
Neighborhood Board officials said the area has good lighting and has not been targeted for other safety improvements in recent years.
"The problem is a total lack of enforcement of jaywalking laws," said David Lemon, head of the Neighborhood Board's Transportation Committee. "I see someone jump out in front of me four or five times a month, but there's never any police enforcement."
More police presence wouldn't help, Duncans said.
"It would be a complete waste of taxpayer money. If they're going to cross, they're going to cross anyway. I still do it myself, even though I almost got hit the last time I tried it."
The deaths increased O'ahu's 2004 traffic fatality count to 11, compared with nine on the same date last year.
The name of Wednesday night's victim has not been released.
Motorists should expect to see people crossing the highway in the area, especially at night, Kim said.
A chain-link fence on the medial near Pearlridge Center has deterred jaywalking, but plantings on the medial in other areas make it difficult at night for motorists to see pedestrians, who often dart out onto the roadway from the bushes, he said.
"I've lived here all my life and it's coming to the point where more and more people are getting hurt," Fukushima said. "The city is trying to do more things to make the whole area pedestrian and bicycle friendly. People need to use common sense and give more consideration to one another."
Advertiser staff writer Rod Ohira contributed to this report.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
