O'ahu, Maui car accidents kill three

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

Three people were killed in two separate traffic accidents on Maui and O'ahu Friday evening and yesterday morning.

A 42-year-old man died early yesterday when a car he was riding in struck a utility pole along Farrington Highway.

The accident happened at 1:40 a.m. yesterday just south of Makaha Valley road. The victim and the 15-year-old male driver, a family relative, were heading northbound along Farrington when their car swerved to the right and struck a wooden utility pole.

The 42-year-old man was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver was flown to the Queen's Medical Center where he remains in critical condition.

Police said speed was a factor in the accident.

It is O'ahu's 33rd traffic fatality, which ties with the number during the same period last year.

On Maui, two people died Friday night after their car crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a small SUV.

The crash happened about 7:45 p.m. on Hana Highway when the car crossed the center line and smashed into an oncoming Honda CRV.

The driver of the car, Frank Alvarez, 50, died at the scene. His wife, Mona Alvarez, was treated and taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where she later died.

The family of three in the SUV was hospitalized overnight for observation.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. It was the 10th and 11th traffic fatality on Maui this year, compared to 14 for the same time last year.