Hawaii
You might need your teen to translate these highway signs. (And that’s the point)
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – With graduation season underway, Hawaii’s roads are expected to be even busier. That’s why highway officials are getting creative with their safety messaging.
The DOT is rolling out new safety signs with eye-catching warnings.
One reads: “Give grads lei, not alcohol.”
Another targets young drivers with the message: “Drinking and driving is not the vibe” Still another warns: “Speed kills, no cap.”
“No cap means no lie,” said Hawaii Transportation Director Ed Sniffen, spearheaded the campaign. “I had to talk to my kids and ask them about it. I wanted to make sure everyone understood, speed is the reason for fatalities on our system.”
Using creative and trendy messaging to promote safety on roadways has been done for years on the continent. In Massachusetts, one state sign that read “Use yah blinkah” went viral. Mississippi started rolling out “Star Wars”-themed signs in 2018.
“We’ve had people tell us that our messages have affected driver behavior,” said Paul Katool, with the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
“There’s only so many times you can tell people to put the phone down and ditch the distracted driving, take it slow. Eventually people just tune you out a little bit.”
But not everyone is fully on board, including the federal government, which issued new guidelines that will go intol effect in 2026 that could limit the use of funny or trendy signs.
“Federal highways give us guidance on what our signs should or should or not include,” acknowledged Sniffen. “There’s some adjustments coming in 2026, but from what we understand, it will not affect the educational messaging we put on our signs.”
Officials know not everyone will like it, but some say its the sign of the times.
“It makes me feel younger reading those edgy signs,” said one driver.
“If it can save 100 lives or one life, it’s worth it.”
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now
Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| North Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 |
| East Facing | 3-5 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 5-7 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||
| Winds | East winds 5 to 10 mph. | ||||||
|
|||||||
| Weather | Partly sunny. Numerous showers. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the upper 70s. | |||||
| Winds | East winds 10 to 15 mph. | |||||
|
||||||
| Sunrise | 6:37 AM HST. | |||||
| Sunset | 6:27 PM HST. | |||||
Forecast for Big Island Leeward
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| West Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 1-3 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly sunny until 6 PM, then mostly cloudy. Hazy. |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||||||
| Winds | West winds around 5 mph early in the afternoon, becoming light and variable. |
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Weather | Partly sunny. Hazy. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the mid 80s. | ||||||||
| Winds | Light and variable winds, becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. |
||||||||
|
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| Sunrise | 6:41 AM HST. | ||||||||
| Sunset | 6:31 PM HST. | ||||||||
The current moderate northwest swell will continue a gradual decline through Thursday. A small west-northwest swell will arrive on Friday and hold through the weekend, followed by a small north-northwest swell early next week. Choppy east shore surf will build to near seasonal average by Wednesday as trade winds strengthen over and east of the islands. Little change is expected along east facing shores through the weekend, followed by a possible decline early next week if winds veer southerly. Surf along south facing shores will remain small to tiny through the weekend, and some islands may an increase in choppy surf if southerly winds develop early next week.
NORTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.
NORTH WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Clean in the early morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions move in during the morning hours with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.
WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi glassy in the morning with N winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting WNW 5-10mph.
SOUTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NE winds 10-15mph. This becomes Sideshore texture/chop for the afternoon.
Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com
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