I am not surprised by the headline, “State’s pedestrian fatalities up 84% this year” (Star-Advertiser, Sept. 15).

On Sept. 9, another pedestrian and I were crossing University Avenue at Metcalf on the pedestrian signal when a car speeding makai from Manoa sailed through the red light. A police officer parked right there did nothing.

On Sept. 12, I was midway in the crosswalk at Punahou Street and South King when a woman driver turned left onto Punahou and barreled toward me. I stopped because she was not going to.

Drivers do not follow the pedestrian right-of-way law; police officers do not enforce the red-light law or the pedestrian law. Lawmakers think they are solving the problem by penalizing the pedestrian with an idiotic “distracted pedestrian” law. How many more pedestrian deaths will it take before drivers, the police and lawmakers actually do something to prevent them?

Kai Nelson

Manoa

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