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Honolulu Staz-Bulletin Hawaii News Page 2 of 3 <br /> Hawaii highway fatalities increased 12 percent to 133 <br /> from 119 in 2002, but state transportation officials said <br /> that did not mean that the number of traffic accidents <br /> increased as well. <br /> "What happened last year was that we had quite a few <br /> accidents where there were multiple fatalities," said <br /> transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa. "Half of them <br /> were alcohol related and the other half were speed <br /> related sometimes a combination of the two." <br /> "What it comes down to is individual behavior we have <br /> 95 percent seat belt use and we're the first state to hit that <br /> level, but it's the person behind the wheel that decides <br /> whether to drive drunk or speed." <br /> Nationally, the numbers also show that while fewer people <br /> in vehicles and fewer pedestrians died, motorcycle deaths <br /> rose by 12 percent last year, and are up 73 percent since <br /> 1997. <br /> For all types of vehicles, the number of deaths per 100 <br /> million vehicle miles traveled, a standard measure of <br /> highway safety, fell to an all-time low. <br /> Highway officials were pleased that the number of motor <br /> vehicle fatalities declined by 362 deaths, the equivalent of <br /> one major plane crash, but they said that the broader <br /> problem was still enormous. <br /> "We will never refer to 42,643 people dying on our <br /> nation's roadways as a victory," said Jeff Runge, the <br /> administrator of the National Highway Safety <br /> Administration, referring to the number of deaths in 2003. <br /> "But we were bound and determined to reverse the trend, <br /> and we have done so." <br /> Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Antone, the Associated Press <br /> and the New York Times contributed to this report. <br /> E=MAIL THIS ARTICLE ~ PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION <br /> <br /> http://stazbulletin.com/2004/08/ 11 /news/story5.htm1 8/11 /04 <br /> <br />