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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, June 30, 2003

Deadly weekend on roads

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Traffic accidents across the state killed five people and left three in critical condition over the weekend.

Four accidents were on O'ahu, and one was on the Big Island.

Among the victims were a Nanakuli boy and his father, killed Friday in a crosswalk; a Kane'ohe woman who died after losing control of her car early Saturday on the Pali Highway; a motorcyclist killed in a collision on a dangerous stretch of North Shore highway; and Big Island man killed on Route 190 in North Kona.

"It's kind of unusual," Sgt. John Agno of the Honolulu Police Department's vehicular homicide section said yesterday of the weekend's death toll.

"But these things sometimes happen in spurts," he said, "and I guess it just spurted."

The most recent accident, yesterday afternoon, was on the North Shore on the particularly deadly stretch of Kaukonahua Road between Farrington Highway and Poamoho Street. Officers refer to the area as "the S curves" or "Suicide Road."

A 59-year-old Kailua man was riding a 2003 Harley Davidson motorcycle northbound on Kaukonahua Road just south of Poamoho Street when he crossed the center line and collided with a gray 2001 Toyota sport utility vehicle driven by a 36-year-old Hale'iwa woman.

The woman, who was wearing a seat belt, sustained minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital.

The man, who was not wearing a helmet and was traveling at a high rate of speed, was thrown from the motorcycle. He was dead on arrival at Wahiawa General Hospital.

His death marked O'ahu's 42nd fatality of the year, compared with 31 at the same time last year.

The accident on the Big Island left a 32-year-old resident in critical condition at the Queen's Medical Center. Maria Walley was injured late Saturday morning after a pickup traveling in the opposite direction crossed into her lane on Route 190 in North Kona and collided with her sports utility vehicle.

The pickup's driver, 25-year-old Ogden Ingalls of Honoka'a, died at the scene.

He was the 16th traffic fatality so far this year on the Big Island, compared to 14 at the same time last year.

Two Wai'anae men, ages 27 and 21, were in critical condition at Queen's yesterday after a late-night crash on Saturday.

The two were traveling on Farrington Highway at about 10:10 p.m. when their car left the road just past Lawai'a Street in Makaha.

The blue 1992 Thunderbird hit a fence, some rocks and a utility pole guide wire before rolling over and hitting a tree. Police said excessive speed may have been a factor, and are investigating to determine if alcohol played a role.

On Saturday, a Kane'ohe woman was killed at about 2:20 a.m. when she lost control of her 2002 Toyota on the Honolulu-bound side of Pali Highway near southwest upper Nu'uanu Pali Drive. Police said the 24-year-old woman was thrown from the vehicle after the car hit the guardrail and then slammed into an embankment. The vehicle then rolled over on her. She was pronounced dead at Queen's.

Friday evening saw the deaths of Paul Brzezowski, 48, and his 7-year-old son, Matthew.

They were in a crosswalk in Nanakuli, en route to a Sack 'n Save to buy a cake to celebrate the father's birthday, when a 56-year-old 'Aiea man in a 1986 Dodge van fatally struck them.

Police are investigating. Alcohol did not seem to be a factor, they said.

Brzezowski left two other children, 16 and 24, and his wife, Donna. The family is homeless.