2017 ended with 106 traffic-related deaths as a result of 95 crashes statewide, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Transportation.

That’s fewer than the 120 traffic-related deaths as a result of 106 crashes recorded in 2016. However, there were six bicyclist fatalities in Hawaii in 2017 compared with none in 2016.

“Although we are grateful to the public for helping to reduce the overall number of traffic fatalities from 120 in 2016 to 106 in 2017, we are still asking everyone to maintain an increased awareness of the avoidable activities that can contribute to motor vehicle crashes and deaths,” DOT Deputy Director for Highways Ed Sniffen said in a statement. “Taking responsibility by eliminating behaviors such as drunk and drugged driving, speeding and driving distracted can make a difference in the number of roadway users — your loved ones and friends — that fall victim to motor vehicle crashes.”

Pedestrian fatalities dropped overall, to 14 in 2017 from 32 in 2016, and in every county. The highest number of pedestrian deaths last year was in Honolulu, with 11, compared with 21 in 2016. Kauai County recorded no pedestrian fatalities last year.

The highest number of fatalities involving motor vehicle occupants was in Hawaii County, with 24, which remained the same as the previous year, followed by 20 in Honolulu, 10 in Maui and six in Kauai.

There was one more moped or scooter operator death recorded in 2017, at 25, compared with 24 the previous year, counting a motorized bicycle in Honolulu. The six bicyclist fatalities recorded in 2017 included three in Honolulu and three in Hawaii County.

The state Transportation Department’s goal for 2018 is to reduce the number of traffic-related deaths to 80 or fewer toward an ultimate goal of zero deaths on Hawaii roadways.

HAWAII ISLAND

$750K state grant would help nonprofit buy shuttered garden

The Legacy Land Conservation Commission, a state panel under the Department of Land and Natural Resources, has recommended that the Land Board approve $750,000 to a nonprofit that wants to buy the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook.

The 15-acre garden has been closed to the public since the Bishop Museum shuttered it in 2016, but a group of local volunteers has championed its reopening. With the grant the group is a step closer, West Hawaii Today reports.

Each year, the state sets aside a part of its revenue from real estate conveyance taxes for the Land Conservation Fund, and the Legislature in turn provides the Legacy Land Conservation Program with some of the money in that account.

The money is then distributed in the form of competitive grants to state agencies, counties and nonprofit groups dedicated to land conservation.

Janet Britt, a board member of the Friends of Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, said the group needs to first negotiate a sale price and confirm an agreement to sell before it can receive the money. The Bishop Museum still owns the property.

In November the Bishop Museum announced the appointment of Melanie Y. Ide as the museum’s president and CEO. She started Monday.

Friends President Maile Melrose said Ide’s hiring and the Legacy Land grant make the time perfect to start negotiations, saying “the stars are aligning” for the garden.

Japanese training vessel makes a brief visit to Hilo

The Japanese training sailing ship Nippon Maru is visiting Hilo for the first time since 2005.

The ship and its crew, plus scores of training cadets, are scheduled to leave at 10 a.m. today, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports.

The Nippon Maru is known for its crowd-pleasing departures, during which all the cadets climb up on the ship’s masts, wave and shout “aloha” to the crowd.

The ship, operated by the National Institute for Sea Training out of Tokyo, was launched Feb. 15, 1984, and replaced the original Nippon Maru, launched in 1930.

The vessel is 361 feet long and 45 feet wide, with a draft of 21 feet. It has four masts and two diesel engines.