HONOLULU (KHON2) — The 7-year-old Ewa Beach girl who crashed her e-bike on Thursday, Feb. 27 has died and there is now a renewed push from traffic safety advocates.
KHON2 spoke to the 7-year-old’s mother on Tuesday, March 4 — she said Azaleia Young-Kawa’a was hanging out in their garage after school when she decided to go down the street. The crash happened about 10 minutes later, according to Azaleia’s mom.
HPD said the girl was not wearing a helmet and she became Hawaii’s 31st traffic fatality when she succumbed to her injuries on Wednesday, March 12.
Transportation officials said 2025 has been a deadly year on Hawaii roadways, especially for those who are not behind the wheel.
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“This year is significantly skewed towards pedestrian, we have ten fatalities out of the 31 so far. And motorcyclists, we have eight of them already,” said HDOT director Ed Sniffen.
A total of 31 people have been killed on Hawaii roadways in 2025 compared to just 17 at the same time in 2024.
Oahu has seen seven pedestrian deaths, four motorcyclists have been killed, three bicyclists lost their lives and two vehicle occupants have also died in 2025 — compared to five total deaths in 2024.
“But more importantly, what’s going on a lot of times, pedestrians are not in crosswalks and they’re crossing against the ‘don’t walk’ sign and so that’s problematic in and of itself. So, that’s really the fault of the pedestrian not paying attention, but we also got drivers who aren’t paying attention,” said Honolulu police chief Joe Logan
Advocates for road safety said it is on every parent to teach their children the rules of the road and to follow those rules themselves since the latest death was a 7-year-old.
“We have an emphasis in our state to reach zero fatalities, a vision, zero goal, and unfortunately, we’re moving in not the correct direction currently,” said Hawaii Bicycling League executive director Travis Counsell.
The HBL stressed parents should teach their bike-riding children the rules of the road like right of way and to ride with the flow of traffic.
“We really emphasize that. And that’s why when you see a bike lane and you see arrows on there, they’re pointing in the same direction as the way that the cars are going,” Counsell said.