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Yesterday I drove over eight speed humps on my commute — and I barely registered them.

It’s been four years since the state installed speed humps — or raised crosswalks — on the Pali Highway, near where I live. And though they have spurred heated debate among drivers, these humps aren’t going anywhere. In fact, the city is planning to install more.

So far, there are 203 speed tables, speed humps or raised crosswalks on five islands — the most being on Oahu — with 28 more in progress. (There are 12 planned for Molokai, an island with no traffic lights.)

The debate is varied, but most drivers seem to fall into two categories: those who hate them and those who tolerate them. But most agree these raised crosswalks, while annoying, force cars to slow down, making roads safer.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, raised crosswalks can reduce pedestrian crashes by 45% and cost less than installing traffic signal lights.

In 2018 — before the first raised crosswalk was installed — the state reported a high of 44 pedestrian deaths. That number fell to 28 in 2022.

“At the installation sites to date, we have observed zero fatalities and zero serious injuries,” says Russell Pang, spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation. “We’ve seen a significant decrease in drivers going over the speed limit … Speed humps will remain part of our speed management strategy in areas where we expect potential for conflict between vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.”

The latest speed hump was installed near Portlock this month, and more are planned in Waimanalo, Kaneohe, Kailua and Honolulu this year.

For me, just to get to Makapuu, I drive over three raised crosswalks on Pali Highway and 10 more in Waimanalo. Do I love them? No. But do I see the value in them? Definitely.

I polled my followers on Instagram and of the 140 people who responded, 72% said they recognize the effectiveness of speed humps. Only 28% said they’re useless.

On Facebook, most respondents either like or don’t mind them; only a handful called them a waste of taxpayer money.

But what are the other options? No one wants more traffic signal lights. (Ask anyone who commutes from Ewa Beach along Fort Weaver Road or from Hawaii Kai along Kalanianaole Highway if they think there should be more traffic signal lights on Oahu.) I doubt lowering speed limits would help, either. And no one liked van cams, a hugely unpopular camera van program that ended in 2002 and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

One Facebook friend suggested adding more potholes along Hawaii roads to slow down speeders. Funny — it would probably work — but only in theory.

Virtually every major city uses raised crosswalks, including New York City, which saw a surge in traffic crashes during the pandemic due to speeding and reckless driving. Citywide, a total of 273 people, including 125 pedestrians, were killed in crashes in 2021.

Starting in 2022, NYC committed to adding 100 raised crosswalks every year in an effort to make some of its most dangerous intersections safer for pedestrians. It had already tried lowering speed limits, expanding automated speed cameras in school zones, re-timing walk signals to give pedestrians a head start and installing miles of protected bike lanes.

Last year Chicago added, among other safety mitigations, raised crosswalks in front of the Garfield Park Conservatory and Garfield Park Field House to encourage drivers to slow down and yield to people crossing the street. Earlier improvements to nearby Central Park Avenue had already resulted in improved safety; data from the city’s Department of Transportation showed a nearly 60% decrease in people driving over 30 mph.

Clearly, speed humps work. We just don’t like them.

When you reflect on why we don’t like them, the hard truth reveals itself: Maybe because we drive too fast, and these humps do their job. They slow us down.

So instead of complaining about them, think about why they’re there. Think about the family of 16-year-old Sara Yara who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing Kapiolani Boulevard in a marked crosswalk. Now there are two speed humps there.

Maybe an elevated crosswalk would have saved her life. Maybe these new speed humps will save others.

So get used to them, like I did. And drive slower.