One new law aims to protect pedestrians in crosswalks, while the other creates an incremental step for teenagers getting their drivers licenses.

"We're here because we want to save lives," said Bruce Matsui, deputy director state Department of Transportation.

The bill-signing ceremony was held at a crosswalk traversing Honolulu's busy King Street, which easily illustrated the perils of being a pedestrian in the city.

As people scurried between cars zipping behind him, Aiona — acting governor while Gov. Linda Lingle is out of the state this weekend — signed a bill requiring a vehicle to stop and yield to pedestrians on the vehicle's half of the road.

Aiona called the bill, "just plain old common sense" and suggested that every car near a crosswalk should yield to pedestrians, not just those closest to person on foot.

Aiona also put his signature on a measure establishing a graduated driver licensing program for teenage drivers under age 18. The new licensing law goes into effect Jan. 9, 2006.

The minimum age to get a driver's license in Hawai'i is 16 after taking a driver's education class taught by an instructor certified by the state.

But under the new law, drivers between the ages of 16 1/2 and 17 1/2 will now need to be accompanied by a licensed parent or guardian when driving between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The law allows exceptions, such as driving from work or a school activity.

Teens in that age group are still developing decision-making skills and learning "what risk is all about," said Aiona, the father of a son who just turned 16.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the number of 16-year-olds killed in traffic crashes nationwide fell by nearly 150 between 1993 and 2003 despite an 18 percent increase in the 16-year-old population. The total number killed in 2003 was 938.

The institute said the decrease was partly due to the drop in the number of 16-year-olds licensed to drive as states pass more restrictive laws.

Hawai'i, however, was listed by the institute as among the four states with the weakest laws for teen drivers.

With the new law, Hawai'i joins the majority of states with graduated licensing laws, said Carol McNamee, founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving-Hawaii.

Advocates of the bill have worked for its passage for about the past decade, she said.

"This has been a long hard road," McNamee said.