By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Last week was a bad one on Hawai'i roads. Four pedestrians dead in separate accidents from 'Aiea to Ali'i Drive in Kona. Another four people dead in a fiery crash that apparently involved auto racing on H-1 Freeway. And a motorcyclist dead in Kane'ohe.

Officials say there's no logical way to explain the spike in auto deaths. But the occurrence of so many deaths so close together certainly touches a nerve with those who want to do something about the continuing carnage on the state's roadways.

Suggestions range from more laws to more enforcement to more education; all of them are needed. It does seem like the increasingly frenetic pace of Island life is contributing to a growing carelessness on the part of drivers and pedestrians.

"It's not just old walkers and young drivers," said one Drive Time caller. "It's a little bit of everybody rushing around too much."

He's right.

We're late getting the kids to class. We're in a hurry to get home. We have to catch the bus on the other side of the street. We think doing 45 mph in a 35 mph zone will help us get through the next stop light before it changes to red and leaves us stranded for — what? — 45 more seconds.

Last week I stood in front of Pearlridge Center in 'Aiea, near where two pedestrians had died in separate accidents less than 24 hours apart, and watched half a dozen people jaywalk across seven lanes of Kamehameha Highway in a 20-minute span.

Two of them were elderly women carrying shopping bags. Two were teenage girls, one of them talking on a cell phone. Two were young men, one of whom sauntered across the road nonchalantly. Not one of them seemed particularly troubled that what they were doing was illegal or dangerous.

Some people say we need more laws to cut down on the dangerous behavior that causes auto fatalities. The Legislature is considering dozens of bills that would increase penalties for drunken driving, excessive speeding, drag racing or not using seat belts correctly. Many of them are likely to remain bottled up in various committees for at least this year.

"It's ridiculous and pathetic that they're not doing more at the Legislature," another called said. "It should be published what senators and representatives voted to kill these bills. Maybe we should take some of the burned-out wrecks, put them up on trailers and line them up around the Legislature."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa makes a valid but hard-to-swallow point: Most of the new laws probably wouldn't stop the type of behavior that is causing the accidents. Simply increasing the fine or other penalties or even confiscating a car are unlikely to deter the type of people who race on the highways at speeds more than 100 mph. She and others think the solution is better enforcement of the laws we have.

Even that might not be enough. I'm pretty sure most of those people crossing the highway out in 'Aiea would have done so even if they thought a police officer was watching. You just have to go to Waikiki on any day to find dozens of people flaunting the laws right in front of law enforcement officials.

So what's the answer? There isn't one — at least not just one. It's going to take a continuing combination of legislation, enforcement and education. It's going to take all of us, in our roles as drivers and pedestrians alike, to slow down and look out for one another.

I know that seems like unsatisfactory puffery in the face of the horrifying accidents we saw last week, but it's all most of us have to offer right now.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.