We have all talked about the Aloha missing between Hawaii residents and visitors, but seldom about driver courtesy declining even between those who live here. Two surveys were conducted in 2023 regarding this and driver attitudes.

The first was a national survey from Forbes about confrontational drivers that ranked states from worst to best. The second survey was conducted by First Insurance Company of Hawaii and looked at driver friendliness.

Forbes Magazine ranked Hawaii in 36th place of states with the most confrontational drivers. According to the survey, 9% of drivers exited their vehicles to yell or fight. And 8.5% of drivers experience road rage frequently. That was pretty good news.

But, in a more recent survey from First Insurance Company of Hawaii, of the 435 drivers polled, 68% said driver courtesy in Hawaii has declined in the past five years.

The top 5 complaints were drivers who signaled late or not at all, those who weaved in and out of traffic, tailgaters, drivers who don’t allow others to merge, and finally, those talking on a cell phone while driving.

What was interesting to note is that 33% of survey participants in Hawaii have seen drivers get out of their cars to confront others. That is a much higher percentage than the Forbes survey indicated.

From our non-scientific observation, we do see fewer people waving or giving the shaka sign to other drivers. And while we have never seen drivers confront others outside their vehicles, we have heard cars honk more than in the past. A light horn is a sign of Aloha, but a blaring horn is not. And that has been a rarity in Hawaii, until recently.

Some common driver courtesies Hawaii drivers are forgetting:

  1. Slow down and don’t move so fast. You’re on island time. It takes longer to move between points A or B. Hawaii drivers may want to check Google Maps before going out to plan better for possible delays without stress.
  2. On hills with narrow roads, the driver going down has the right of way over the driver going up. Sometimes, you need to move over and let the downhill driver pass you. (This is no longer in the Hawaii Driver Handbook and others have advised that it is the uphill driver that has the right of way).
  3. Making eye contact is a good thing to acknowledge drivers courteous to you.
  4. Consider whether the horn is really necessary. Can you let it go easily? Sometimes you can’t, however. Yesterday, we saw someone who was driving poorly. They suddennly pulled out in front of another car on the highway and almost cause an accident.
  5. Pedestrians have the right of way. Watch for them. We hate to report that cars in the Costco parking lot don’t always yield to pedestrians.
  6. Holding cell phones and driving are not a good fit. If you must talk or text, pull over to the side of the road or just wait until there is a good time to do so. If you need to talk, then consider a headset or car phone.

Hawaii was also ranked the worst state for driving by Wallethub earlier this year. That was based on gas prices, traffic congestion, and road quality. Don’t get us started on road quality here in Hawaii. It’s ridiculous. But then Bankrate listed Hawaii as the third safest state for drivers.

With all of these surveys out this year alone, what is your feeling about driving in Hawaii in terms of what you find easy and what is challenging? Are drivers courteous?

Source link