Hawaii Governor Issues Executive Order to Improve Traffic Safety

The order comes as traffic fatalities rise across the state

Sept. 19, 2025

2 min read

Cityscape view of downtown Honolulu at the intersection of Vineyard Boulevard on HI-98 and the Pali Highway, Oahu, Hawaii.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green issued an executive order to improve traffic safety as fatalities rise across the state.

“Even one death due to a crash is unacceptable,” Green said in a Sept. 18 statement. “As of today, we’re at 93 people dead, with a disproportionate amount of the dead being pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, or moped riders.”

The executive order creates uniform regulations for electric bicycles, promotes safety education for high-risk drivers and proposes additional support for law enforcement agencies enforcing traffic laws.

“The data are showing that the primary cause for this increase in traffic deaths is our behavior behind the wheel,” Green said. “For years, we and our traffic safety partners have done the sign waving and handing out lights and all the feel-good stuff, to try to convince people to take the actions science has proven will keep them safe. It’s time to take bold action to convince our friends and neighbors that following the rules of the road will keep themselves and others safe.”

In 2025, 70% of Hawaiian traffic deaths involved vulnerable road users. Almost 90% of these fatalities showed signs of risky or negligent behaviors like speeding, failure to yield, lack of safety equipment, improper pedestrian actions and hit-and-runs.

The executive order prompts the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) to create standards and regulations for e-bikes and “other non-conforming or unclassified high-speed electric devices.”

“We’re seeing a lot of other types of devices, whether it’s electric bikes, foot scooters, probably things we don’t even have names for, out on our roadways,” Travis Counsell of the Hawaii Bicycling League told Hawaii News Now.

Green called for laws that would establish mandatory safety classes for drivers who speed excessively or operate a vehicle under the influence. He also endorsed impounding the vehicles of repeat traffic offenders and creating a tiered system for license renewals based on driving records.

The executive order encouraged HDOT to streamline the usage of public records like dashcam video as supplemental evidence in traffic safety investigations. It also prompted the department to identify high-risk traffic corridors throughout Hawaii.

Sources: Hawaii Office of the Governor, Hawaii News Now