Eighteen people have been killed on Hawai'i roadways so far this month — 17 in the past 15 days.

O'ahu leads the way with nine fatalities, eight of them since Aug. 15, according to statistics compiled by The Advertiser.

The Big Island follows with five since Aug. 13. On Kaua'i, three members of a visiting family from Irvine, Calif., were killed in a collision on Thursday. Maui recorded its lone August traffic fatality so far on Friday with the death of a motorcyclist.

"It can't be attributed to any one factor," Honolulu police vehicular homicide investigator Sgt. Alan Vegas said of the statewide rash of deaths. "On a year-by-year basis, there's always a spike somewhere. It's not unusual."

August and March have been the worst months in Hawai'i this year. O'ahu accounted for 13 of the state's 19 traffic fatalities in March, with the other six occurring on the Big Island.

O'ahu's fatality count for 2006 rose to 65 Saturday with the death of moped operator Loreto E. Jose, 58, of 'Ewa Beach, who was injured Aug. 19 in an early morning collision on Fort Weaver Road.

Vehicular homicide Sgt. Lorenzo Ridella also said police are still seeking information on the hit-and-run driver of a van that struck and killed pedestrian Thomas Laikupu, 75, Friday on North King Street. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.

As of yesterday, 113 people had been killed in traffic accidents in Hawai'i this year, including 48 on the Neighbor Islands — 25 on the Big Island, 12 on Kaua'i and 11 on Maui. The statewide total for 2005 was 138: O'ahu (78), Big Island (36), Maui (15) and Kaua'i (9).

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.