Alcohol-linked After falling to an 18-year low in 1999, the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities in Hawaii spiked up in the next two years, according to a national study released yesterday.
fatalities rise on
island highways
A national study shows a
dramatic increase in 2000 and
2001 after an 18-year declineBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com"After two decades of decline, we're concerned with this upward trend," said Connie Abram, the executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Honolulu.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study, Hawaii had 60 alcohol-related deaths in 2001 and 55 in 2000. That compares with 44 in 1999, the state's lowest total since the federal agency has studied the statistics.
The first year of the study, 1982, was also the worst for Hawaii when 103 alcohol-related traffic fatalities were recorded. The numbers for this year are not yet available due to differences in criteria used by the counties.
NHTSA defines an alcohol- related fatality as any that occurred in an accident where a driver, pedestrian or cyclist had alcohol detected in their blood.
Tougher laws and enforcement, education and changing social attitudes toward drinking and driving have all contributed to the decline in the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities over the past two decades, said Larry Nitz, a University of Hawaii political science professor and author of several traffic accident studies.
But the spike in 2000 and 2001 in Hawaii remains a mystery.
"We don't know," said Maj. Bryan Wauke, Honolulu Police Department Traffic Division commander. "But 1999 was the lowest in 43 years."
HPD keeps statistics on the number of fatal crashes instead of individual traffic deaths. But even those statistics show increases in the total number of fatal crashes that were alcohol-related since 1999.
The number of alcohol-related traffic deaths on the Big Island in 2001 was higher than the 1999 figure, but the increase is not statistically significant, said Sgt. Randy Apele, Hawaii County Police Department Traffic Services. Thirteen of the island's 31 traffic fatalities in 1999 were alcohol-related. Two years later the total number of traffic deaths remained the same, but 15 of them were alcohol-related.
Big Island police conduct more DUI checkpoints than any other county, Apele said.
On Maui there is a direct relationship between the traffic deaths and DUI arrests, said Lt. Charles Hirata, Maui Police Department Traffic commander. "As DUI arrests go down, fatalities go up," Hirata said.
In 1997, Maui police made 1,017 DUI arrests. That same year, there were 15 traffic deaths; three were alcohol-related. Last year, police made 347 DUI arrests and there were 28 traffic fatalities, with seven of them alcohol-related.
"The more DUI arrests you have, the better your chances of taking somebody off the road who might be heading into an accident," Nitz said, "When you catch those folks, that's a fatality you're taking off the road."
On Oahu, police average just more than 2,000 DUI arrests per year, Wauke said. He said he believes more can be done to reduce alcohol-related deaths.
"That's why we go every year (to lawmakers) for stiffer penalties," Wauke said.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Honolulu Police Department
