Six killed in weekend of deadly accidents
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
Six people were killed and two others critically injured in seven traffic collisions on two islands in one of the deadliest weekends on Hawai'i’s roadways this year.
Scott Nishi • Special to The Advertiser
Four of the deaths are from three Big Island collisions; two of the deaths were on O'ahu.
Police speed to the scene of a fiery three-car, chain-reaction collision near the Kaonohi Street overpass early yesterday morning that left one man critically injured.
On O'ahu, a 2-month-old boy died after being thrown from a family van that crashed shortly before noon yesterday in LÅ‘ie and a 23-year-old Kalihi man was killed yesterday in an early morning car crash eastbound on Nimitz Highway, near the H-1 Freeway on-ramp. The deaths raised O‘ahu’s traffic fatality count for the year to 59..
A 1-year-old girl who was a van passenger in the LÅ‘ie crash near Lanihuli Place was in critical condition today at The Queen’s Medical Center while her father, 29, and mother, 30, are in fair condition. Two other children, ages 6 and 5, are at Kahuklu Hospital. Police traffic investigators said the girl’s father apparently fell asleep while driving, causing the van to drift off the roadway.
Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said the van was town-bound when it went out of control and landed on its side, hurling the 2-month-old infant out of the vehicle.
In the other fatal accident on O'ahu, a 23-year-old Kalihi man was killed when he lost control of a 2002 silver Acura RSX two-door sedan traveling east on Nimitz Highway, one-tenth of a mile west of the H-1 on-ramp.
The Acura hit a guard rail on the north side of the roadway, then spun and crashed into a concrete barrier at the south side. Police said speed was a factor. The driver was taken to The Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition and died from his injuries, police said.
Three hours later, another man was critically injured in a fiery three-car crash on the freeway in which passersby pulled victims from three cars, two of them ablaze, after a chain reaction of collisions that closed all freeway lanes at 4:15 a.m.
A speeding Dodge Neon burst into flames when it hit a Dodge Charger stopped on H-1 Freeway after a collision with a Chevrolet Camaro moments earlier.
Both Dodge cars were on fire when passersby pulled the drivers and passengers from the three vehicles.
The driver of the Neon, identified only as a 20-year-old man from the Schofield Barracks area, was taken to The Queen’s Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition today. His two passengers were transferred to Pali Momi Medical Center.
Police said the black Camaro, speeding westbound on the freeway, collided with the older-model Charger one-tenth of a mile east of the Kaonohi Street overpass.
The driver of the four-door red Neon apparently did not see the crash ahead of him in time, hit the brakes and skidded into the Dodge Charger, setting both the Neon and the Charger aflame, Police Sgt. John Agno said.
All lanes of the freeway were closed and traffic from Moanalua Freeway was diverted to Kamehameha Highway, while westbound H-1 traffic was diverted to the Stadium off-ramp.
The roadway was reopened at 7:57 a.m.
Also on O'ahu yesterday, a 37-year-old man who was riding a bicycle that was struck by a sports utility vehicle on Kamehameha IV Road near Keha Place at 4 p.m. He was in critical condition today at Queen’s.
On the Big Island, police yesterday still had not released the names of three people killed in two separate highway crashes on Saturday.
A Mainland couple died when their jeep was hit by a driver who police said had been drinking, and plunged 200 feet off a bridge into a gulch.
Police investigators said they opened a double negligent homicide investigation into the visitors’ deaths. The accident caused a three-hour traffic jam on the Hawai'i Belt Road near O'okala at the Hamakua–North Hilo boundary.
Killed were the female driver of the rented vehicle and her 41-year-old male passenger. Their names and residences were not released.
The 32-year-old North Hilo woman driving the pickup that hit their jeep was treated at North Hawai'i’s Community Hospital for injuries and released pending investigation.
In the other Big Island accident Saturday, a 19-year-old Kona man was killed shortly after midnight when the car he was riding crashed near the 89-mile marker on the Queen Ka‘ahumanu State Highway north of Kailua.
The 2003 Honda was trying to overtake another car when the driver lost control.
Police said the driver and another passenger left the scene before police arrived. They were later found and treated for injuries but not identified.
The teenage passenger died at 4:45 a.m. Saturday at Kona Community Hospital. Investigators said he was thrown from the car and pinned underneath it. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
Yesterday on the Big Island, a 76-year-old man, identified by police as Albert Moriguchi of Kailua-Kona, was killed yesterday in a head-on collision on Palani Road. Moriguchi’s wife, 72, was transferred from North Hawai'i Hospital to The Queen’s Medical Center yesterday and is listed in guarded condition.
Advertiser staff writers Walter Wright and Hugh Clark contributed to this report.
