The headlines have become all too common—fatal car, motorcycle, e-bike and pedestrian accidents on O‘ahu’s streets and in its crosswalks. In September, traffic deaths on the island were more than double what they were last year at the same time.
Even while reporting this story, accidents were in the news: a 14-year-old boy struck and killed by a car while riding his electric dirt bike in a crosswalk in ‘Ewa Beach. A pedestrian in her 60s fatally hit by a vehicle in Makakilo while crossing a road outside of a marked crosswalk. A 28-year-old dead after crashing his speeding motorcycle into a car in Waialua.
That incident on Sept. 8 was the 60th traffic fatality on O‘ahu in 2025. What’s alarming about this year’s tally is that about 30% have involved pedestrians, and almost half of those pedestrians were 65 or older. Most of the fatalities also involved negligent behavior, including speeding.
In response to the disturbing trends, Gov. Josh Green signed an executive order in September to prevent more deaths. His order introduced statewide regulations for e-bikes and called for mandatory safety education for speeding drivers and other measures…