Posted on: Wednesday, December 1, 2004

Runaway truck's safety sticker was up to date

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

Police said yesterday that the driver of a 35,000-pound garbage truck that killed a man after it went off the road and landed in the Kapolei Shopping Center parking lot Friday had a valid commercial driver's license and that the truck's safety sticker was up to date.

Police also said drugs and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the accident. But blood was taken from the driver, and police are awaiting the lab results.

Investigators with the state Department of Transportation, who concurred with police, will continue to focus on the truck to determine what, if any, mechanical failure took place, said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

Ishikawa said the truck was last inspected by the state on June 6. He said the safety sticker that is required on the front windshield of all commercial vehicles was difficult to find on the 1994 GMC garbage truck because the windshield shattered.

On Friday, the truck's passenger, Mark Roben, was crushed to death and driver Tipasa Save was seriously hurt when the runaway truck hurtled down Makakilo Drive, tore through the eastbound H-1 off-ramp, skipped off a 20-foot embankment, flipped on its side and slid to within 15 feet of the back wall of Chili's Bar & Grill in the Kapolei Shopping Center.

The truck hit several vehicles in the parking lot in the 11:50 a.m. accident. The driver remains hospitalized in serious condition.

Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.