While Kaua‘i has seen a jump in traffic deaths this year, alcohol-related fatalities are down compared to previous years. Kaua‘i has seen more traffic deaths this year (eight) than in any of the past five years, and through just eight
While Kaua‘i has seen a jump in traffic deaths this year, alcohol-related fatalities are down compared to previous years.
Kaua‘i has seen more traffic deaths this year (eight) than in any of the past five years, and through just eight months this year has equaled the numbers of roadway deaths in 2001 and 2002 combined.
With eight fatalities so far this year, only 1999 had as many deaths on Kaua‘i roads over the last six years. But none of those accidents this year were alcohol-related, county officials said recently. While 2003 saw two of the five traffic fatalities deemed alcohol-related, numbers jumped statewide. Responding to the increase, Kaua‘i Police Department officials have joined other law-enforcement agencies around the state to set up more roadblocks and checkpoints in the future.
In partnership with a federal program, KPD officers are planning at least one drunk-driving roadblock per week, starting Friday, Oct. 1, said Scott Ishikawa, spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation.
Roadblocks will also be brought out this Labor Day holiday weekend, too, Ishikawa said.
“Everybody will be doing their usual checkpoints” this weekend, he added. With the new plan, police will space the checkpoints out year-round.
Last year, two of the five traffic fatalities on Kaua‘i were alcohol-related, and two of the four Kaua‘i traffic deaths in 2002 involved alcohol as well, he said.
According to statistics released by the federal Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently, Hawai‘i had the highest percentage rise in alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the country, bucking the national trend.
Alcohol-related deaths around the state rose 25 percent from 2002 to 2003, from 47 to 72. They also comprised well over half of all traffic deaths in the state, 53 percent, compared to 39 percent in 2002.
The statistics were down 3 percent nationally, NHTSA numbers indicated. That includes the 12 of 13 states that saw a decline in drunk-driving deaths after utilizing the federally funded “You Drink, You Drive, You Lose” program Hawai‘i law-enforcement personnel will begin to implement Oct. 1.
“They want more roadblocks. We don’t have a problem with it,” said Kaua‘i Police Department acting Traffic Safety Unit Sgt. Joe Ka‘auwai. “We hope people think about it before they drink and drive. Sometimes they need to get arrested to learn.”
One person who will be thinking about it for a while is Darius Henderson.
Henderson, 20, was sentenced to five years in jail in July after pleading guilty to second-degree negligent homicide.
In a 2003 accident, Henderson was drinking and driving when he crashed into a tree, and 17-year-old Darius Yasay was killed.
The Yasay family has also filed a lawsuit against Henderson in regards to the incident.
Tom Finnegan, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
