Heal Our Highways event in Waimea responds to deadly crash surge

The warning signs were meant to do more than wave in the Waimea breeze. At Church Row off Highway 190, the Hawaii Police Department used a Heal Our Highways gathering to press a harder message: Hawaii Island’s recent run of fatal crashes has become a public safety emergency, not a string of isolated tragedies.

The event, held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., came after the county said Hawaii Island had recorded 13 traffic fatalities by May 19, including eight in the previous two weeks. Police said four of those deaths came since the previous Friday, and that the island’s 13th fatality of 2026 matched the count at the same point in 2025, even as the pace of loss has become more concentrated.

County leaders have pointed to two recent double-fatal crashes on Daniel K. Inouye Highway, also known as Saddle Road, as the clearest sign of where danger is mounting. Police also said those deaths marked the fifth and sixth traffic fatalities on Hawaii Island in the past 10 days, and the second double-fatal crash within a 13-mile stretch of DKI Highway during that time. Mayor Kimo Alameda has asked the state for help to improve traffic safety on the island, calling the situation a public safety emergency.

The Heal Our Highways campaign began in October 2025 under the Police Department’s Area II Traffic Enforcement Unit, which has been trying to make roadway deaths feel less like separate tragedies and more like a problem the whole community can prevent. Officer Adam Roberg, who helped create the campaign, said the crashes are often preventable and urged drivers to slow down and pay attention to roadway and pedestrian conditions.

The Waimea sign-waving also carried a local face to the grief. Police said the event honored Pastor Sione Tilini, a Waimea resident whose recent death in a traffic collision affected the community. Alongside officers, the gathering was expected to include the County of Hawaii Mayor’s Office, Hawaii Fire Department, North Hawaii Community Hospital, Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement Sheriffs, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, local tow companies, churches and other community groups.

For residents, the next test will be whether the island’s response moves beyond visibility. The campaign has already put the county’s deadliest corridors, including Saddle Road and the Waimea approaches off Highway 190, at the center of public scrutiny. What comes next will be judged by whether drivers change behavior and whether leaders match the warning signs with enforcement, road improvements and emergency-response fixes where the crashes keep clustering.