Road deaths cause for concern
By Loren Moreno
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu police are urging drivers and pedestrians to "pay attention" after five traffic accidents over the weekend on O'ahu left three people dead and two men critically injured.
"With five accidents in a week, it is cause for concern on our part," said acting Lt. Alan Vegas of HPD's traffic division.
Three of the victims were pedestrians — all of whom were in a crosswalk when they were struck, and all of whom died.
All five accidents occurred in the dark.
Vegas called the high number of accidents over the weekend — one of which involved an off-duty police officer — "coincidence."
A breakdown of the traffic accidents:
The officer involved in the accident, a 52-year-old detective in the Criminal Investigations Division of HPD, has been stripped of his police powers — essentially his badge and gun — for at least the duration of the investigation, said Michelle Yu, HPD spokeswoman. She said the officer will remain assigned to theft detail in CID but will not be in the field or on patrol.
Medical examiners have not released the name of the victim; police will release the make and model of the car involved once details have been confirmed, Yu said.
The weekend accidents happened about a month after police ended ramped-up enforcement of a stricter crosswalk law. During the enforcement period from Sept. 1 to Sept. 23, 954 pedestrians were cited for jaywalking, crossing against the light or other pedestrian offenses, according to HPD.
A total of 401 citations were given to motorists for moving violations, including driving through a crosswalk while pedestrians are crossing, according to HPD.
Vegas said the number of citations during that period are much higher than during other periods in the year. "Whenever we have an enforcement campaign it is going to be higher," Vegas said.
The new crosswalk measure was enacted in May but was not enforced until September to allow people time to become familiar with the rules, Yu said.
The number of pedestrian fatalities this year versus last year is about the same, HPD statistics show. From January to October 2005, 23 pedestrians died, compared with 21 during the same period last year.
Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.
