Rolling tire kills Big Island man

Advertiser Staff

A worker who was inspecting pavement in a Kona subdivision was killed Thursday when he was struck by a tire that flew off a truck, Big Island police said.

Police said Clifford Vierra of Captain Cook was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital shortly after the 9:02 a.m. accident.

Vierra, 61, an inspector for CTS Earthmoving Inc., was checking the asphalt at La'aloa Avenue in the White Sands subdivision when a tire flew off the rear axle of the dumper-trailer on a 1987 Peterbilt truck driven by a 42-year-old Waikoloa man, police said.

The tire struck Vierra, and then continued rolling west on La'aloa, damaging mailboxes, a sign and a rock wall before stopping.

The Big Island has had 16 traffic fatalities so far this year, compared with 15 at this time last year.