Attention Class of 2002: KPD cracking down on caravaning

The Kaua’i public-school Class of 2002 graduates today, with the last seniors attending their last classes yesterday.

The ritual that used to be “caravaning,” or “convoying,” or cruising en masse from one high school to another, sometimes involving speeding, racing, illegal traffic maneuvers, alleged obscene behavior and other things young people sometimes do, apparently is a thing of the past.

When members of the Kapaa High School Class of 2000 took to the streets two summers ago to celebrate the end of their grade-school careers, tragedy struck.

Two young people died, and one lived to graduate with his class as the result of an accident on the Kapa’a bypass road during a green-and-white caravan. Police suspect that some illegal vehicular maneuvers may have led to the accident.

This year, the Kauai Police Department is employing a two-pronged approach, utilizing its officers stationed in the high schools to sniff out potential caravans or convoys being planned, and continuing the practice of having even more uniformed officers and police cruisers around the high schools.

Both serve as effective deterrents to gathering and cruising, said KPD Sgt. Mark Scribner, of the Traffic Safety unit.

After the graduation-day tragedy of June 2000, the Kaua’i County Council last year rushed through an ordinance prohibiting two or more vehicles from convoying or caravaning without a permit that is issued only for a fee.

There were no citations issued last year around graduation time for illegal convoys.

The practice of teenagers driving in large convoys to celebrate graduation, ignoring traffic lights and traffic signs along the way, was felt to have contributed to three deaths on or near graduation days in recent years, including two Kapaa High School juniors at Waipouli in 2000.