Bicyclist honored at rally

About 80 people lined the intersection of Nuuanu Avenue and Judd Street on Saturday morning to remember David Niau, who died from injuries after being hit by a car Feb. 1 as he rode his bike, and urge greater safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Those gathered held signs that said, among other things, "Drive With Aloha," "Save A Life — Slow Down" and "Let’s Make Hawaii Safer."

Niau’s niece, Nani Fujiwara, held a framed photo of her uncle.

"It’s not just a Nuuanu problem, it’s an Oahu problem," Fujiwara said. "I think that our roadways are so busy and congested that the lifestyle that we live causes us to be so busy and sometimes careless."

A bike ride, march and sign-waving on Saturday, followed by a "solutions meeting" with neighborhood board, police, city and state officials, was a "callout to our fellow community members to slow down and realize that safety is of utmost importance," she said.

Niau, 62, was hit by a car as he rode his bike down Nuuanu Avenue the night of Super Bowl Sunday. The motorist had been driving up Nuuanu and was turning left onto Judd Street as Niau rode through the crosswalk, Fujiwara said.

Niau was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died Feb. 9. His death was Oahu’s 11th traffic fatality of 2015.

Niau, who lived in the university area, "was a big bike rider," Fujiwara said. "That was his form of transportation."

He had dinner with family on Super Bowl Sunday and was riding home, wearing a reflective vest and with a light on his bike and backpack, his niece said.

"There have been many accidents here in this intersection," she said. "In fact, we also have a nephew that was hit on Nuuanu Avenue right by Chevron. He was bicycling as well."

At the solutions meeting at the nearby 15 Craigside senior residential center, Kari Benes, with the state’s Emergency Medical Services & Injury Prevention System Branch, said Nuuanu Avenue had eight bicycle and nine pedestrian injuries from 2007 to 2014.

Chad Taniguchi, a friend and high school classmate of Niau’s as well as executive director of the Hawaii Bicycling League, said the focus of the meeting was, "How can we prevent people from dying on the street?"

A similar approach has been taken in Seattle for the past two years.

"They hold a memorial walk if a pedestrian is killed. They hold a memorial bike ride if a cyclist is killed," Taniguchi told those assembled. "And then they always have a solution meeting for people in the neighborhood to talk about what in engineering, what in education, what in enforcement can be done to prevent a future tragedy, future death."

Among those at the meeting were state Rep. Takashi Ohno (D, Nuuanu-Liliha-Puunui-Alewa Heights) and Honolulu City Council member Carol Fukunaga.

One suggestion made for Nuuanu is reducing the avenue from four lanes to one in each direction, with a middle turn lane and bike lanes.

"Add proper sidewalks and speed tables (raised intersections)," Taniguchi said. "Prioritize walking and biking. Make it a safe neighborhood street, not a fast pass-through to downtown or to Pali Highway."