Posted at 2:15 p.m., Saturday, June 9, 2001

Three die in separate O'ahu car accidents

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Kamehameha Day holiday weekend has already turned deadly with three people killed in three separate accidents on O'ahu last night and this morning.

The most horrific accident happened at 3:30 a.m. today when a driver reportedly traveling nearly 100 mph lost control of his Acura and flipped off the H-1 Freeway near the east-bound Waialae off-ramp onto Waialae Avenue.

Police said the driver, a 19-year-old Aina Haina man, was racing with a white Volkswagon Jetta in the east-bound direction on the H-1 Freeway when it struck a guardrail and went airborne, falling on Waialae Avenue about 20 feet below the freeway near the intersection of Waialae and 21st avenues.

The car continued forward and struck a Chevron gas station signpost, tearing the vehicle into two. The driver was ejected upon impact. He was taken to Queen's Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Police are still looking for the driver of the white Volkswagon Jetta racing with the victim. Witnesses told police that the driver of the vehicle apparently came back to look at the wreckage and drove off.

Another fatal accident involved a 7-year-old Nanakuli boy who was killed after he and his father was struck by a car while trying to cross Farrington Highway. The accident happened at about 8:20 last night fronting the Hawaiian Electric Co. Kahe power plant in Nanakuli.

The boy was taken to St. Francis-West Medical Center where he later died. The 54-year-old father remains in critical condition.

The driver was arrested for negligent homicide, driving under the influence and driving without a license.

The last crash happened just before 5 a.m. on Kamehameha Highway about 500 feet south of Kamananui Road just north of Wahiawa.

A 54-year-old man driving a late-model Honda crossed the highway centerline and struck a utility pole. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The latest accidents bring the total number of traffic deaths on O'ahu to 31, compared to 33 at the same time last year.