Recent events have prompted rallies and calls for safer driving.
There have been 10 traffic fatalities on Oʻahu this year, and 12 critical traffic incidents, Honolulu Police Department Chief Joe Logan reported Tuesday.
"This last week has been a rough one for HPD in our community," Logan opened a press conference saying.
In the last week, two officers have been critically injured on the job responding to traffic crimes, Logan said. The first, who was attacked last Thursday with a heavy metal object, has since been released from the hospital.
The other, a 15-year department veteran, was pinned between two vehicles on the H-3 highway on Sunday and remains in critical condition.
"His path to recovery will be a long one," Logan said. "We continue to support both the officers and their families during this difficult time."
These incidents followed a Wednesday, Feb. 15, hit-and-run that killed 16-year-old McKinley High School student Sara Yara, and injured a fellow student.
State and city officials will hold a press conference Wednesday, a week after the tragedy, to discuss traffic safety improvements for the crosswalk near McKinley High School on Kapi‘olani and Kamake‘e.
"Those still in shock and grief have reached out to HPD and others," Logan said. "They want her death to be a sobering reminder of the frail frailty of life, and how all of us have a shared responsibility and keeping Oʻahu roads safe."
Logan said the department is continuing to investigate these isolated incidents, and they are looking at their policies to ensure and improve officer safety.
There were 56 traffic-related fatalities last year, according to the state Department of Transportation.
