[ OUR OPINION ]
ALCOHOL-related traffic deaths have declined dramatically in Hawaii and across the country during the past two decades, but the rate appears to have leveled off in recent years. Further improvement can be gained through more education about the dangers of drinking and driving and less advertising targeted at young people by breweries. Public education should
follow tougher DUI laws
THE ISSUE A national study shows that alcohol-related traffic death rates fell in the past 20 years.
In the early 1980s, Congress required states to raise the drinking age to 21, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving began lobbying for stiffer penalties for drunken driving. Hawaii adopted a legal threshold of .10 in blood-alcohol content for being behind the wheel, and that was lowered to .08 in 1995.
Since 1982, the number of traffic fatalities nationally has hovered between 39,000 and 46,000 a year -- last year's total was 42,116 -- but the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths declined gradually from 26,173 to a low of 16,572 in 1999, according to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Sixty percent of the traffic deaths in 1982 involved alcohol, but that fell steadily to 40 percent in 1997. It has remained approximately at that level since then.
Likewise, Hawaii traffic fatalities involving alcohol ranged from 63 percent to 67 percent in the early 1980s, but have amounted to fewer than half of all traffic deaths since 1996. Last year, 60 of Hawaii's 140 traffic deaths involved alcohol.
The federal study measures states according to the number of alcohol-related fatalities per vehicle miles traveled. In the past 20 years, the national rate dropped from 1.64 deaths per 100 million miles traveled to 0.63 last year. Like the percentage of traffic fatalities involving alcohol, the rate has been about the same since 1997. Again, Hawaii's rates have followed the national trend, falling from 1.70 per 100 million miles traveled in 1982 to 0.75 in 1997 and then leveling off; last year's rate was 0.69.
Not surprisingly, South Carolina, with one of the weakest laws against drunken driving, has the worst rating, at nearly twice the national average. Utah has the best -- less than half the national rate.
Wendy Hamilton, MADD's national president, attributes high alcohol-related death rates in some states to lack of political leadership. "Those states are not enforcing the right laws and are not passing the right laws," she says.
Hawaii has the right laws, supported by former Gov. Ben Cayetano during his administration, and they are strictly enforced. Governor Lingle should follow the course set by Cayetano and do what she can to encourage drivers to heed those laws.
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A limping economy may be keeping purse strings tight and cutting into charitable donations this holiday season. As Christmas nears, Hawaii's people, who have always had a generous spirit, may rediscover the pleasure of sharing by giving a little to help those who have less. A little means a
lot to those in need
THE ISSUE Charities feel the pinch as more people seek help and donations taper off.
The Salvation Army and other organizations report that contributions are far below expectations this year. Toys for Tots, which distributes playthings to poor children, was short about 40,000 items a week before Christmas, an especially gloomy situation. Said Salvation Army official Chad Buchanan, "Kids get their hearts broken a lot easier than adults."
Economic conditions have placed many residents on the edge, officials say. More are seeking assistance from human service programs, but as donations dry up, help has become more difficult to provide. Collecting donations has become more difficult for the Salvation Army because some retails centers have not allowed them to set up the traditional red kettles where shoppers can drop in a few dollars. The organization counts on the holiday season for the bulk of donations that are used throughout the year.
Like the Salvation Army, other charitable groups are getting more calls for help. In recent months, the Community Clearinghouse -- a part of Helping Hands Hawaii, which accepts donations and passes them on to more than 65 social services agencies -- has received double the number of usual requests. (The group benefits from the Star-Bulletin's annual Good Neighbor Fund.)
Tapering donations come a month after the Hawaii Community Foundation reported that 92 percent of Hawaii households donated to charities last year. The average donation in 2001 rose 11 percent to $1,123 from $1,016 in 1998, the last year the foundation surveyed. The generosity may have been triggered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as people sought to help organizations like the American Red Cross. However, as the economy in Hawaii and across the nation has remained unstable, contributions have dropped.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, Editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, Assistant Editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, Assistant Editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comMary Poole, Editorial Page Editor, 529-4748; mpoole@starbulletin.com
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