We have all talked about the Aloha missing between Hawaii residents and visitors, but seldom about driver courtesy declining even between those who live here. Two surveys were conducted in 2023 regarding this and driver attitudes.
The first was a national survey from Forbes about confrontational drivers that ranked states from worst to best. The second survey was conducted by First Insurance Company of Hawaii and looked at driver friendliness.
Forbes Magazine ranked Hawaii in 36th place of states with the most confrontational drivers. According to the survey, 9% of drivers exited their vehicles to yell or fight. And 8.5% of drivers experience road rage frequently. That was pretty good news.
But, in a more recent survey from First Insurance Company of Hawaii, of the 435 drivers polled, 68% said driver courtesy in Hawaii has declined in the past five years.
The top 5 complaints were drivers who signaled late or not at all, those who weaved in and out of traffic, tailgaters, drivers who don’t allow others to merge, and finally, those talking on a cell phone while driving.
What was interesting to note is that 33% of survey participants in Hawaii have seen drivers get out of their cars to confront others. That is a much higher percentage than the Forbes survey indicated.
From our non-scientific observation, we do see fewer people waving or giving the shaka sign to other drivers. And while we have never seen drivers confront others outside their vehicles, we have heard cars honk more than in the past. A light horn is a sign of Aloha, but a blaring horn is not. And that has been a rarity in Hawaii, until recently.
Some common driver courtesies Hawaii drivers are forgetting:
- Slow down and don’t move so fast. You’re on island time. It takes longer to move between points A or B. Hawaii drivers may want to check Google Maps before going out to plan better for possible delays without stress.
- On hills with narrow roads, the driver going down has the right of way over the driver going up. Sometimes, you need to move over and let the downhill driver pass you. (This is no longer in the Hawaii Driver Handbook and others have advised that it is the uphill driver that has the right of way).
- Making eye contact is a good thing to acknowledge drivers courteous to you.
- Consider whether the horn is really necessary. Can you let it go easily? Sometimes you can’t, however. Yesterday, we saw someone who was driving poorly. They suddennly pulled out in front of another car on the highway and almost cause an accident.
- Pedestrians have the right of way. Watch for them. We hate to report that cars in the Costco parking lot don’t always yield to pedestrians.
- Holding cell phones and driving are not a good fit. If you must talk or text, pull over to the side of the road or just wait until there is a good time to do so. If you need to talk, then consider a headset or car phone.
Our Driving in Hawaii Post Offers More Tips.
Hawaii was also ranked the worst state for driving by Wallethub earlier this year. That was based on gas prices, traffic congestion, and road quality. Don’t get us started on road quality here in Hawaii. It’s ridiculous. But then Bankrate listed Hawaii as the third safest state for drivers.
With all of these surveys out this year alone, what is your feeling about driving in Hawaii in terms of what you find easy and what is challenging? Are drivers courteous?
Moved to Maui in 2022. I’ve never driven in a place where more people refuse to use turn signals. It’s mind blowing. I’d say less than 20% use turn signals here as they should.
Hawaii resident who defiantly feels the increase in hostility on the roads. People are now driving huge vehicles that monopolize parking,create blind spots and the drivers seem to think they can be aggressive because they are in these tank sized vehicles,; unfit for the small roads ,especially Kauai. It’s very rare that these drivers stop,slow down or yield to pedestrians.
Over the many years we have been coming to the BI, one thing we have observed that happens on a regular basis is passing in a no passing zone. There is a reason for those double yellow stripes, but nearly every time we are there we hear on the news about a fatal head-on collision because someone was passing when they shouldn’t have been. Very sad and so dangerous. As far as the Costco parking lot…those are pedestrian nightmares everywhere, not just in Hawaii.
The costco parkin lots drive me nuts. Some people need cracks too. Give em likens brah
Another big problem is the texting and phone zombies.
They are all going to evolve into nothing more than a set of thumbs.
What the problem is all the mainlanders moving here and bringing their mainland ways and the younger spoiled generations (X & Z) that think they are entitled.
25 years in Hawaii, working mostly in hospitality, and dealing with many people “from the mainland,” and “tourists.”
Hint: They are here because they choose to be here, not because they have TO be here. The overwhelming majority act respectful and appreciative. Really.
That’s WHY I thoroughly enjoyed working at places like Ken’s House of Pancakes & the Hilton.
Locals? Most are decent enough. But way too many act like they don’t appreciate what they have here.
At KHOP one night while clocking in, a “local” kid (“born and raised” here) says, “I can’t wait to get off this rock.”
To the contrary. My encounters have been with natives often in business trucks. By example a truck with a university emblem on the side refused to let us merge. Zero aloha.
I visted theislands since the 70’s and whooa, it has increased. The more people, the numbers add up to negativity. thats the way the world works…unfortunately…..and fortunately I have been able to experience the islands as they were meant to me in the past….calm, minimum people, minimum traffic. It’s been 5 years since last visit, so will be in for a huge surprise, but and not a pleasant one. I fear so much that this will be my last trip as the dynamics are just too sad on the sad end. I had a very close friend die unexpectedly a couple days ago and I said, to myself, atleast he won’t see this horrible mean world.
“What was interesting to note is that 33% of survey participants in Hawaii have seen drivers get out of their cars to confront others. That is a much higher percentage than the Forbes survey indicated.”
Maybe the 33% are all watching the same 7-8%?
Idea: Maybe the virtue signal people with those “In This House …” signs could practice some “In this car, we use the turn signal” virtue?
On Judge Judy people would say they got out of their cars to confront the other driver. Judge Judy couldn’t understand why.