Crossing busy intersections during peak traffic is a tall order for 84-year-old Mel Kirkland, who gets around town on a scooter.

"I'm very cautious. I try to follow the lights. But drivers don't always see me," said Kirkland as he waited to cross at the intersection of Kapi'olani Boulevard and Kalakaua Avenue.

"Or if they see me, they don't always yield," Kirkland said.

Before crossing the street yesterday he was given a brochure, "Pedestrian Safety Guidelines," by a group of local volunteers from AARP. He clipped the brochure on the front basket of his scooter to urge other pedestrians to cross safely.

More than 200 volunteers from AARP Hawaii took to the streets yesterday to educate pedestrians about crosswalk safety and to survey more than 50 street intersections for "walkability." AARP Hawaii devoted yesterday, its annual Day of Service, to pedestrian safety because of growing concern that Hawai'i's streets have become too dangerous to navigate on foot, said Bruce Bottorff, a group spokesman.

Statistics from the state Department of Health show that Hawai'i has the seventh-highest pedestrian fatality rate in the United States — 24 percent higher than the national average. Last year more than a third of Hawai'i's 36 pedestrian fatalities occurred at crosswalks, according to the state Department of Transportation.

MOBILITY MATTERS

At Kapi'olani Boulevard and Kalakaua Avenue yesterday, about six volunteers monitored crossing signals, pedestrian habits and drivers to determine the general safety of that intersection.

Tessie Lilker, a 62-year-old AARP volunteer, noticed that crossing signals at the Kapi'olani crosswalk last an average of 28 seconds — too short for pedestrians with limited mobility to cross safely, she said.

Lilker, holding a stopwatch, watched as many elderly pedestrians were passed by impatient drivers as they slowly made their way across the street.

"This is a very dangerous intersection," she said.

Barbara Dinoff, another AARP volunteer, agreed.

"If someone has less mobility, they would not be able to make it through this intersection," she said. "It would be up to the car to wait."

Observations like these were recorded by the AARP volunteers and shared at a debriefing meeting at the Ala Moana Hotel yesterday evening. The completed surveys will be given to the state Department of Heath and shared with traffic engineers, law enforcement officials and lawmakers.

Tim Twohy, 62, walks each morning from the Nu'uanu YMCA to work at Honolulu Hale and said he has seen many close calls with pedestrians in crosswalks.

But he said careless drivers should not carry all the blame.

"Most of the pedestrians — they don't pay attention," he said, standing at the corner of Punchbowl and Beretania streets.

Jean Simon, a Palolo resident, walks through that same intersection daily during her lunch break and said drivers are sometimes in too much of a rush.

"We have this crosswalk law and we should be enforcing it. Enforce the bicyclists, enforce the drivers, enforce the pedestrians," she said.

However, she said she disagreed with a bill that would have made stiffer penalties for pedestrians and drivers who violate the crosswalk law. The bill would have fined motorists $150 and suspended their license for 90 days the first time they were caught violating the state law. That bill failed to get the approval of the Legislature.

"On a first offense? That's pretty harsh," she said.

STOPPING AT MEDIAN

At the intersection of Nu'uanu Avenue and Vineyard Boulevard, volunteers noticed pedestrians were not always crossing wisely.

Many pedestrians would attempt to cross Vineyard, a six-lane thoroughfare, without stopping at the median separating traffic.

One elderly woman, crossing with a cane, continued to walk without stopping at the median even when cars were attempting to make a left turn. Most cars stopped for her, but two kept going even when she was in the crosswalk.

Thelma Urabe, 84, lives on School Street and said she walks to Longs or Safeway on Vineyard Boulevard at least twice a week.

"Sometimes the light isn't long enough to make it all the way across," Urabe said. "I stop in the middle; some people don't."

But Urabe said generally drivers are courteous when she crosses the street and wait for her to get to the other side.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.