Posted on: Monday, January 5, 2004
EDITORIAL
Never mind the beef; worry about driving
As we fret over the increasingly remote chance of an outbreak of mad cow disease in the Islands, let's not overlook Hawai'i's most formidable killer: the misuse of cars on our public streets and highways.
The number of registered cars in Hawai'i has crept up to the 1 million mark. That's more than one vehicle for each of the state's 814,668 licensed drivers.
The only good news here is that if a person has two or more cars, he can't possibly have them all on the road at the same time. Still, that's a lot of automobiles for one state.
And that's where discussion about all these cars usually centers: on congestion. How in the world are we going to fit all those vehicles on the road?
But there's another issue that is perhaps even more important: safety. While the growing number of cars is alarming from an environmental and traffic perspective, it is also alarming for the way those cars are being used.
In 2003, O'ahu saw a 19 percent increase in traffic fatalities, with 81 deaths compared with 68 in 2002.
Alcohol and speed are believed to be factors in at least half the fatal crashes. So you see, it's not the beef we should be worrying about, it's the inebriated speed demons.
Which brings us back to the subject of transportation alternatives, an issue that we have to address unless we want to turn Honolulu into Los Angeles.
There are long-term dreams about a new high-speed commuter rail linking suburban West O'ahu with downtown. But that's a long way off.
Short term, the city is beefing up its Bus Rapid Transit system, which should bring some relief to bus commuters but which might even add to congestion in the short term as the buses chew up scarce lanes on city streets.
But why argue about cars and buses at all? The O'ahu Sierra Club has its eyes on another option: bikes. On the list of the club's New Year's resolutions for Mayor Jeremy Harris and the City Council is a request to provide money for a dedicated bikeway through urban Honolulu.
For years, promises to increase Honolulu's bike-ability have been made but not kept.
Though we doubt bicycles are a sustainable alternative to motorized transit, they can make at least a small dent in congestion if we create grade-separated bike lanes.
And so we join the Sierra Club in asking the city to commit to a Young Street Bikeway that would dedicate a 1.7-mile bicycle lane from Isenberg Street to Thomas Square.
Of course, we expect cyclists to observe the rules of the road and ride safely. But let's face it. How often do you hear that five people were killed in a wreck caused by inebriated, speeding cyclists?
