A year after a Hawaii Pacific University sophomore was struck and killed in a crosswalk at the entrance of HPU’s Windward Oahu campus, her family has helped establish the Mariah Danforth-Moore Memorial Fund at the school with the aim of making the crosswalk safer.
"It’s an open challenge for anyone who cares about safety in that area (of Kamehameha Highway) and cares to see accidents prevented in the future," Todd Simmons, HPU vice president of marketing and communications, said Tuesday. "We want people to join us in supporting this safety fund and help to finance what we hope will be a substantial safety improvement on that stretch of road."
The fund was started with a $1,000 challenge match donation from Farmers Insurance Hawaii, which also hosted Tuesday’s Hot Spots Traffic Safety event in honor of Danforth-Moore at HPU’s Hawaii Loa campus.
Lisa Moore and Stephen Danforth, Danforth-Moore’s parents, donated $20,000 to the fund; HPU and the law firm of Leavitt Yamane & Soldner, which is representing Moore and Danforth, each matched the donation, bringing the fund’s total to $61,000.
Four other people have been hit at that crosswalk since 2005, none fatally, a state Department of Transportation spokesman said last year. A month before Danforth-Moore’s death, the state had installed pedestrian-activated, flashing warning lights at the crosswalk to alert drivers of pedestrians crossing.
Earlier this year, Simmons said, HPU met with state transportation officials to discuss possible safety improvements at the crosswalk, including installing a rumble strip or traffic signal, or even building a pedestrian overpass. The university recently received draft results from a traffic and safety study it commissioned and hopes to meet with the DOT again to continue to address the issue.
Danforth-Moore, 19, a sophomore from Oneida, Wis., was killed by a hit-and-run driver Nov. 20, 2011. Dominic Franklyn, 29, of Kapolei was arrested and charged with negligent homicide and failure to render aid.
Tax-deductible donations can be made to the Mariah Danforth-Moore Memorial Fund at www.hpu.edu/SupportHPU (choose the "Make a Gift Online" option, and specify "Mariah Danforth-Moore Memorial Fund" in the "Other/Comments" field of the giving form).
Donors may also send checks to Hawaii Pacific University, 1132 Bishop St., Suite 307, Honolulu, HI 96813. Make the check payable to Hawaii Pacific University and write "Mariah Danforth-Moore" in the subject line.
