Posted on: Monday, August 16, 2004
Racing blamed for H-1 crash
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Street racing on the H-1 freeway early yesterday resulted in a multivehicle wreck that sent a 20-year-old male driver to the hospital in critical condition and injured a 20-year-old passenger, police said.
The 19-year-old driver of a second car was not hurt. The driver of a third car fled the scene and is being sought by police.
The wreck, in the westbound lanes of H-1 near the Alexander Street on-ramp, happened shortly before 6 a.m. when the driver of a black Acura went onto the shoulder of the highway while trying to overtake a silver Acura.
The two cars collided, then slammed into barricades and the median.
The driver of the black Acura sustained critical head injuries. He and his passenger were taken to The Queen's Medical Center.
The 19-year-old driver of the silver Acura, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured.
A third car, a pinkish-maroon Mitsubishi Lancer, also was racing, and either the Lancer or the black Acura struck the back of a trolley.
Police are asking anyone with information about the Lancer to call Sgt. Patty Heely of the traffic division's vehicular homicide section at 529-3499.
A number of O'ahu residents have been killed or seriously injured by street racers in recent years. On Feb. 13, four men were killed in a crash on H-1 in Pearl City. Two cars that witnesses say were racing slammed into the back of a truck that was clearing debris from the zipper lane on H-1 near the Pearl City off-ramp. The crash ignited a fiery blaze. Among the dead was the truck's passenger.
On Dec. 8, 2003, four people were killed and three were injured in a collision that police believe involved racing in Makaha. And early Oct. 12, two men were killed when their Honda crossed the center line of Ala Moana and crashed into a sport utility vehicle. Witnesses said their car was racing with another vehicle before it crashed.
In August 2001, Holy Trinity School teacher Elizabeth Kekoa was killed in a collision on H-1 near Kaimuki.
Nicholas Tudisco, 21, has been indicted on a manslaughter charge in the case.
Tudisco pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors say he admitted that he was racing. The trial is set to begin in November.
Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
