There have been 111 traffic deaths statewide, compared with 89 a year ago.

On Oahu, speed has contributed to 11 deaths this year while alcohol has contributed to eight of the 52 fatalities, said Honolulu police Sgt. Clyde Yamashiro.

In eight other cases, alcohol and speed were factors, as in the death of Kahuku High School running back Jason Keo, who lost control of his car in the early-morning hours of June 23 and crashed into a utility pole and a wall on Kamehameha Highway in Laie.

The medical examiner said Keo, who would have been a freshman at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, this fall, had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream.

Yamashiro, noting the number of traffic fatalities, said that "any loss of life is significant."

Honolulu police have been using public awareness programs, more roadblocks during holiday periods and drug and alcohol detection programs to try to keep the numbers down, Yamashiro said.

In Maui County, the 24 fatalities so far this year means that with four months left in the year, the county might exceed the record high of 34 traffic deaths that occurred there in 1979.

Speeding was a factor in 11 fatalities this year, and alcohol contributed to another 11 on Maui.

"It's a tragedy. Our county is really being devastated by this," said Leanna Stodd, a coordinator for Mothers Against Drunk Driving on Maui.

Maui Police Lt. Charles Hirata said, "We're putting up extra patrols specifically for speeding and we're going to try to beef up our DUI roadblocks."

On the Big Island, with 28 fatalities so far this year, two factors are noteworthy in recent accidents: speeding and crossing the center line, said Lt. Ernest Correia of Hawaii County police.

A pickup truck crossed the center line and hit another truck Friday night just north of Hilo, killing three people.

The cause of crossing the center line varies - sometimes inattention, sometimes drinking, Correia said. Road shoulders are narrow and leave little room for drivers to avoid accidents, he said.

Traffic tends to be worse in the summer because students are out of school and local families are taking vacations and visiting relatives, he said.

The highest number of traffic fatalities on the Big Island, 47, was reached in both 1990 and 1991. The lowest number was 23 in 1995.

On Kauai, speeding drivers contributed to two of the seven fatalities this year, and drunken drivers to five fatalities.