Teams of deputy sheriffs will soon be on the road statewide to help Honolulu and neighbor island police with traffic enforcement after the number of traffic deaths on Hawaiʻi roadways increased again last year.
State sheriff’s deputies traditionally do not focus on traffic enforcement, but state Transportation Director Ed Sniffen told Civil Beat his department has committed $2 million in federal highway safety funding to pay overtime for deputies to work on the traffic crackdown.
Traffic deaths statewide surged to 129 last year, a 20% increase from the previous year and the highest number of fatalities since 2007. Those deaths included 40 occupants of motor vehicles, 39 motorcycle or motor scooter riders, and 38 pedestrians…