The Daniel K. Inouye Highway, known to most of us as Saddle Road, is more than just a highway. For many families on Hawaiʻi Island, it is part of daily life.

My mother drives this road every single day to get to work. Every morning, and every night, our family worries about the dangers that come with traveling long stretches of a two-lane highway where one mistake, one distracted driver, or one unsafe pass can become deadly.

In the past month alone, two separate crashes on Saddle Road took the lives of four people. These were not just statistics. They were parents, children, family members, friends, coworkers, and members of our community who should still be here today.

Everyone who regularly drives Saddle Road has seen how dangerous parts of it can be:

high speeds,
difficult weather,
driver fatigue,
dark conditions at night,
and vehicles crossing the center line.
We understand that not every crash can be prevented. But highways should be designed so that human mistakes do not automatically become fatal tragedies.

Concrete median barriers, cable barriers, rumble strips, and other centerline safety systems have saved lives on highways across the country by preventing deadly head-on collisions.

We are asking the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, Hawaiʻi County officials, and state lawmakers to take immediate action by:

Conducting a full safety review of dangerous sections of Saddle Road
Studying and installing concrete or cable median barriers where possible
Expanding centerline rumble strips and other proven safety measures
Improving lighting, signage, and visibility
Increasing traffic safety enforcement along the highway
Holding public community meetings so residents can be heard
This petition is personal for me, because every day my mother drives this road, I worry whether she will make it home safely.

And I know thousands of other families across Hawaiʻi Island feel the same way about their loved ones.

We should not have to wait for more funerals before action is taken.

Please sign this petition and help us demand safer roads for everyone who depends on Saddle Road every day. No one should lose their life simply trying to get home.