Tourists seeking to experience historic Waipi'o Valley may have to settle for views from the rim, a commercial tour or a long hike.

That's because driving a rental vehicle into the valley would no longer be an option under a bill from Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong.

Rentals account for 22 percent of the vehicles using the steep, narrow, mile-long road leading to the valley floor, according to one survey.

"The increased access of rental-vehicle traffic into Waipi'o Valley creates unsafe conditions as well as an unnecessary and significant burden to the already relatively heavy traffic the Waipi'o Valley Access Road endures," Yagong's bill states. "Further, rental vehicles are most often operated by drivers who have never traversed this road before. This lack of experience on such a difficult and unique roadway creates a significant risk that should be eliminated."

Some 6,928 rental vehicles — nearly 19 a day — entered the valley from August 2007 through June of this year, according to a partial traffic count that Waipi'o Valley rangers compiled.

That's in addition to more than 24,000 vehicle trips that valley farmers, residents, surfers, swimmers, hikers and other Big Island motorists took into the valley during the same period.

"I've seen more rentals than residents and farmers, which is kind of like 'Wow,' " said Darren Gamayo, one of the Waipi'o Valley information and educational officers.

He had counted 16 by mid-afternoon yesterday. He said he sees crashes "on a daily basis."

Besides being unfamiliar with the road, which is one lane in several sections, visitors occasionally don't know how to operate a four-wheel drive, Gamayo said.

"They're blinded," he said. "They don't realize the turnout areas or how far they are apart. They just freeze up."

Drivers heading down must yield to those coming up the steep grade, including trucks filled with taro, horses and other heavy loads.

Gamayo has talked to some visitors who drove out of the valley wishing they had never driven in. Others don't even attempt the descent.

"I see the spouses, the wives, they jump out. They say 'No,' " Gamayo said. Such experiences make him a supporter of the bill.

Yagong said he's seen the same thing, which is why he's trying to improve traffic safety.

"A lot of the people that go into Waipi'o Valley have no idea how treacherous the road is," he said, adding it's not designed for the number of drivers currently using it.

Yagong said the community asked for the rental-vehicle ban, which he has discussed with the Waipio Valley Circle, Waipio Taro Farmers Association and other community groups.

Noting the proposed ban is just the first step in improving safety for valley residents and other users, Yagong said most of the rental agencies he's contacted don't allow their vehicles inside the valley.

He said rangers have copies of many of the companies' rental contracts and remind drivers they are prohibited from driving in.

"They still go," he said. "The rangers have no authority to stop them because there's no law."

A 2006 county law allows only four-wheel drive vehicles on the access road.