HONOLULU (KHON2) — It’s been a deadly year on roads statewide.
On Oahu, there have been 43 traffic deaths, which is more than double that this time last year, 19. But one area in particular has seen a decline in fatal crashes over the last few years, and it may be due to speed calming devices in the area.
Although speed humps, speed tables, raised crosswalks and speed tables are not liked by everyone, transportation officials said they help save lives.
“So, where we’ve installed raised crosswalks, we’ve seen roughly a 74% reduction in crashes, 92% reduction in fatalities and 60% reduction in people exceeding the speed limit and also a 71% reduction in crashes involving pedestrians,” explained Robin Shishido, state deputy director of transportation highways division.
With 73 deaths statewide halfway through the year, transportation officials all agree that it’s too many lives lost.
“I think we’re on track to probably having our worst year in terms of fatalities on our roadways,” said City and County of Honolulu Dept. of Transportation Services Director Roger Morton.
From signage above the freeways, to speed humps, bumps, tables and raised crosswalks, to speed cameras, agencies are trying to help change people’s driving behaviors.
One area in particular has seen a big decrease in traffic deaths since speed calming devices were installed around 2022.
“There was a period in time where the Farrington Highway corridor every month, every week there was a fatality, a terrible accident, and all of these things can be prevented and its not a secret that people using Farrington Highway use it as a race track,” said Rep. Darius Kila (D) House Transportation Chair and also represents Nanakuli and Maili in West Oahu.
State data shows that between 2014 and 2021, there were 34 traffic deaths on Farrington Highway between Nanakuli and Makaha.
Since 2022, there have been nine fatalities in the area, none have been speed-related since 2022.
“This goes to show that these are the physical cues to change people’s behaviors,” Rep. Kila said. “And as I said, Farrington Highway was the proof of concept in Nanakuli to show these things work.”
The city said it’s seen an improvement on its roads, too.
“We haven’t had any fatalities in the areas where we’ve taken steps to try and improve them,” Morton said while discussing the City’s Complete Streets program.
Rep. Kila said there are many people in his district who have called him requesting speed calming devices be added on residential roads.
The DOT keeps track of all fatalities in the state and said if they see there is a hot spot, then they will look into adding speed calming devices, if necessary.
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As for the speed cameras, the state said it’s still sending out about 20,000 warnings to drivers every week who are going 11 miles per hour over the speed limit.
The state said it plans to start issuing citations in the Fall.