And police Lt. Charles Hirata sees it in a rising number of fatal crashes on Maui roads this year. From Lahaina to Paia to Kihei, it's the top problem cited by residents who call the Maui Police Department for help. Some suspect that speeding and other dangerous driving maneuvers have risen because of the increase in cars and traffic on the island, although police have no statistics to track aggressive driving. There seems to be a different attitude.
Some people see aggressive driving and they duplicate it.
They do it because other people do it. Speeding was a factor in at least half of the six traffic deaths on Maui so far this year, police said. Hirata said the number of fatal crashes caused by speeding appears to be overtaking the number attributed to alcohol consumption, another common factor. Staszyn, a Lahaina police detective who regularly drives on roads throughout Maui as part of his job, says he has noticed a major increase in traffic congestion over the past five years. You don't really save much time by going faster over short distances.