Deadly year for Hawaii pedestrians as the number of fatalities has gone up

The year 2024 has been a deadly one, so far, for pedestrians on Hawaii’s streets.

To date, there have been 75 traffic-related fatalities on Hawaii roadways, with more than a third, 27, involving pedestrians, according to preliminary statistics from the state Department of Transportation.

At the same time last year, there were 19 pedestrian ­fatalities.

Despite a “Pedestrian Safety Month” campaign in August, in which free reflective bands and safety lights were given out to the community, along with the state’s ongoing installation of speed humps to slow drivers down, the number of pedestrians struck in Hawaii roadways continued to increase.

Angie Schmitt, an author and transportation expert who spoke on pedestrian safety at Blaisdell Center on Sept. 25, said it is a national trend.

Schmitt’s free talk, “The Pedestrian Safety Crisis in America,” was presented by Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services and Complete Streets, and sponsored by the Ulupono Initiative.

A recent Smart Growth America “Dangerous by Design” report ranked Hawaii No. 13, she noted, for most deadly states based on pedestrian fatality statistics.

Hawaii recorded an average of 2.41 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people per year in the years 2018 to 2022.

New Mexico took the top spot, followed by Florida at No. 2, and Louisiana at No. 3.

“Most of the states that are listed as being the most dangerous are sunbelt states,” said Schmitt in an interview. “It does look like you have the same kind of streets.”

They share similar characteristics, she said, including multiple lanes on very wide streets without great pedestrian accommodations, even when close to the beach or in popular tourist areas.

She noted, as well, that a number of pedestrian victims are homeless, a common characteristic shared with other cities also experiencing a housing affordability crisis.

Of the 27 pedestrian deaths recorded by DOT so far, eight were homeless.

The “Dangerous by Design 2024” report said deaths of people struck and killed while walking on streets across American have increased by 75 percent since 2010, with those in low-income communities killed at much higher rates.

America’s roads are designed primarily to move cars quickly “at the expense of keeping everyone safe,” the report said, which is connected to the historic increase in pedestrian deaths.

“One of the reasons for that is because vehicles have gotten bigger,” said Schmitt. “We have more people driving SUVs and large pickups than people in the past driving sedans. They’re getting hit by larger vehicles higher up on the bodies and those crashes tend to be fatal.”

Hawaii also faces infrastructure challenges, with many roads that lack sidewalks and which are not designed for pedestrian safety, according to Kathleen Rooney, Ulupono’s director of transportation policy and programs.

“We have designed our roads around speed, and not stopping,” said Rooney. “When cars have to slow down or we redesign them or take lanes, (these are) things meant to slow people down to make it safer to walk or bike.”

While not everybody is happy with these, she said, speed is a factor in survival, and whether a collision occurs in the first place.

Some projects in progress are working to make streets safer, she said, but one to two projects per year is not going to address the magnitude of the challenges fast enough.

Honolulu’s recently published Vision Zero Action Plan noted that nearly one-fifth of fatal and serious injury pedestrian crashes occur on roads without sidewalks. The most frequent crash scenarios, however, involve pedestrians crossing in a crosswalk while a vehicle proceeds straight ahead or makes a left turn.

Kupuna ages 65 and older make up 28 percent of people killed in crashes while walking.

Following a deadly summer, the pace of fatalities did now slow down heading into the fall.

In mid-September, an 88-year-old man died from head injuries after he was struck by a car while crossing Kaukama road in Maili.

On Sept. 24, two women walking alongside Kamehameha Highway in Pupukea on Oahu’s North Shore were struck by a car driven by a juvenile male veering into the unimproved shoulder. One woman, age 70, was pronounced dead at the scene while the other, age 68, sustained minor injuries.

The state continues its Walk Wise Hawaii program, with October being national Pedestrian Safety Month.

“The program is not just about pedestrians,” said Lance Rae, Walkwise spokesman. “We’re also talking to drivers — don’t speed. If every single driver didn’t speed, that would reduce our pedestrian fatalities by a lot.”