Hawaiian Injury Rates Compare Favorably with Those of Mainland States

If you aren’t already feeling good about living in Hawaii, a cursory look at injury statistics should raise your spirits. According to the Hawaii State Department of Health, the rate of fatal injuries in Hawaii was 17 percent lower than the rate for the rest of the United States, while the rate of nonfatal injuries requiring hospitalization was lower by 20 percent. Fatal accident rates were 21 percent lower in our state and the homicide rate in Hawaii was only one-third the rate of the mainland. However, one area where Hawaii ranked significantly lower than the rest of the country might be deceptive; whereas Hawaii has a low rate of suicide, we have a high rate of deaths of indeterminate intent, which are often suspected to be suicides.

Hawaiians seem to be safest in their cars; fatality rates among car occupants were 58 percent lower in Hawaii than in the other states. Although the rate of motorcycle fatalities was very high for Hawaii, these represented a very small number of the total. The only category where Hawaii was substantially higher than the rest of the country was in drownings, but this is not unexpected for an island state with so much ocean activity.

However, it is worth noting that even though Hawaii’s pedestrian fatality rate was statistically comparable to the rest of the United States, our state was particularly dangerous for senior pedestrians, with a rate almost 50 percent higher than that of California, the next highest state. Also, although the suicide rate in Hawaii was generally lower, our rate of 52 deaths/100,000 among 15- to 19-year-olds easily exceeded the rate of 36 deaths/100,000 for rest of the country.

So, for all the good news, there are two very difficult pills to swallow. Few of us would like to think of Hawaii as the state where old people are struck down in traffic and young people choose to take their own lives. These are areas where we must do better.

Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks, Attorneys at Law represents accident victims throughout Hawaii. To schedule a free consultation, call 808.524.1433 or contact our Honolulu office online.