Woman is Oahu’s fourth
elderly traffic fatality
this month

Ninety-three-year-old Lan Sang Vuong was probably coming home after a jaunt to the beach Monday morning when she was struck by a produce van in a marked crosswalk on Kalakaua Avenue near Makaloa Street, her son, Man, says.

Vuong is the fourth elderly pedestrian on Oahu to die in a traffic accident this month. Her death marks the 21st pedestrian fatality this year, nine of which involved persons 65 and older. Oahu has a total of 54 traffic fatalities this year so far.

Last year, six of the 14 pedestrian fatalities were seniors. In 2002 it was 14 of 27.

"It's been a rough month," said Maj. Doug Miller, of the Honolulu Police Department's Traffic Division. "It's such a shame that someone lives that long only to die in a pedestrian accident."

The state Department of Transportation and police have been urging drivers to "give seniors a break," to take efforts to protect elderly pedestrians.

They also have a federally funded program, "WalkWise Kupuna," which kicked off this year to educate seniors.

"It goes both ways," Miller said. "Seniors need to be more careful, more vigilant, and drivers need to slow down, even if they're not in a crosswalk."

Drivers need to realize older persons' reflexes might not be as quick as they once were; they might not be as flexible, being unable to turn their heads with the same range of motion; and with limited vision, they might not be able to gauge speeds and distances, Miller said.

Miller attributes the high fatality rate to seniors succumbing to their injuries, which in some cases would not be fatal to a younger person.

A 90-year-old woman involved in a pedestrian accident Sept. 10 at 6th and Harding avenues had been getting better but died Oct. 5.

An 85-year-old woman was killed Oct. 15 on Kalakaua Avenue near South King Street.

Pedestrian Tsuma Matsuyama, 92, was on her way to catch a bus Thursday afternoon when she was hit by a pickup truck while in a marked crosswalk at Liliha and Bates streets. She died Friday.

Police said that after Vuong was hit, she fell under the van and was dragged a short distance. The van's 66-year-old driver was not injured.

Witnesses told police she was crossing against the light, and the 1998 Chevrolet van had the green light, police said.

Drivers "need to be more careful and not to be so negligent," Man Vuong said. "Pay more attention to old people because old people don't have good reaction."

But it is "too late for my mother," he said.