Hawaii 24/7 Staff

The state report on traffic was shared by Mike Price, chairman of the South Kohala Traffic Safety Committee.

The report was prepared by the state Department of Health and covers the years 2005 to 2010.

According to the state’s ‘Strategic Highway Safety Plan, 2007-2012,’ the goal is to reduce the number of traffic-related deaths from an annual average of 135 to 100 or fewer.

From that plan:

Traffic fatalities are the leading cause of injury death in Hawaii and the leading cause of death among teenagers. On average, one person dies on Hawaii’s roads every three days.

Every day, 28 people are injured in traffic crashes, 20 crash victims end up in an emergency room and four are hospitalized.

The totals over five years, 2001-2005, are staggering: more than 670 dead, thousands injured, and tens of thousands of lives affected by the carnage on our roads.

There is increasing public awareness that accidents “don’t just happen;” they are caused.

All too often alcohol, drugs and excessive speed are causes or contributing factors in traffic crashes that claim scores of lives each year. Sadly Hawaii ranks second in the nation in the percentage of traffic fatalities that are alcohol-related.

Speed remains the most common factor in traffic fatalities. Ironically, because Hawaii is blessed with near-perfect year-round weather, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycle and moped riders are too often casualties of motor vehicle crashes.

Hawaii leads the nation in pedestrian fatalities involving senior-citizens and ranks second in the number of bicycle fatalities.

Hawaii’s fatality rate of 1.46 per 100 million vehicle miles, about the same as the national average, yet the toll of traffic-related deaths in our state at any level is simply not acceptable.

— Find out more:
http://hawaii.gov/health
www.sktsc.webs.com