Editorial for Friday — February 13, 2004

• Traffic safety – take two

Traffic safety – take two

A rush-hour traffic accident on Kuhio Highway Wednesday resulted in the fourth traffic fatality for Kaua‘i as we move into the middle of the 2004’s second month.

Last year the island tally of traffic deaths was five for the entire year, according to statistics provided by county officials, and four in 2002.

Several weeks ago an editorial appearing on this page asked drivers to be more defensive, to slow down.

But the fatal accidents are continuing, with Wednesday’s happening near the entrance to the Kauai Community Correctional Center.

Another involving a pedestrian in Lawa‘i yesterday morning has left an elderly woman in critical condition.

With over 10 months still to go in 2004, it looks like we may set an all-time high this year for traffic deaths on Kaua‘i’s roads and highways.

This week these potentially fatal situations were observed during daytime driving hours:

• Drag racers are being spotted using rural roads, traveling side-by-side down both lanes at high speeds in 25 mph zones;
• No-passing zones are being used for passing, both on main highways and back roads;
• Traffic on Kuhio Highway and other long stretches of road moving at the pace of freeways in Los Angeles at speeds often topping the local speed limits by 20 mph to 30 mph.

This trend needs to be turned around.

What’s the use of getting from the South Shore or Kapa‘a to Lihu‘e in record time if you’re putting yourself and others at risk of death or serious injury to save a few minutes.

Self-policing is needed, as the Kaua‘i Police Department can’t be expected to be a cure-all for all our traffic problems.

A traffic turnaround — a quick one — is needed on Kaua‘i, for it has become a matter of life or death.

We all need to realize that the next traffic death could be anyone of us, and that thoughtful driving may keep us away from tragedies we can and should avoid.