ROUGH ROAD

Day of reckoning for drivers arrives

Hawaii drivers will see some changes tomorrow.

Oahu drivers must now put down their cell phones and other electronic devices while driving. And don't succumb to temptation. Police will be on the alert looking for scofflaws.

Also, motorists across the state will see a jump in gas prices of nearly a dime as the exemption of the general excise tax is yanked from the sale of ethanol-blended gasoline, which is sold at essentially every pump in the state.

Fill up the tank while you can still afford it.

ON THE BALLOT

Keep those votes coming

More than a dozen candidates are vying to fill the City Council seat left by Duke Bainum's sudden, untimely death.

Let's hope voters in this District V special vacancy election are as astute as those in District III, which went through a similar “;vote-by-mail only”; process after Barbara Marshall's death; they had a 45 percent turnout. Don't toss those mailed ballots (as many did for the dismal neighborhood board elections, resulting in a 6 percent turnout). Voting ends Aug. 7.

RISKY BUSINESS

Cheerleaders face danger in their sport

Cheerleading remains the most dangerous high school or college sport for females, despite recent safety strides. The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reports that 74 of the 112 catastrophic injuries suffered by female high school athletes from 1982 to 2008 were directly related to cheerleading; the sport accounted for 31 of the 44 such injuries at the college level.

Catastrophic injuries were defined as fatal or severe. The report's author hopes publicizing the risks will spur greater safety awareness among the young women who are expected to perform perilous stunts with a smile.