Crashes snarl O'ahu roadways
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Honolulu firefighters prepare to transport two of four victims from a Lexus SUV that hit a utility pole on the Windward side of O'ahu, on Kamehameha Highway near Johnson Road. Traffic on Kamehameha Highway was closed in both directions.
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
In what will be remembered as a horrendous day for O'ahu motorists, major thoroughfares were closed for hours at different locations yesterday as police and rescue crews scrambled to pull the injured from three accidents — two overturned vehicles and one head-on collision.
A stolen Cadillac was mangled in a head-on crash with a bus in Hau'ula. Two other cars also were involved.
Two separate accidents around noon left three people critically injured and shut down portions of the H-1 Freeway and Kamehameha Highway for hours. In both accidents, rescue crews had to free people pinned in the wreckage.
No sooner had those highways finally reopened, when a Lexus sport utility vehicle flipped over near Kamehameha Highway and Johnson Road, and traffic on the Windward highway was closed in both directions for a second time.
And in another accident yesterday, a 20-year old man was killed after he lost control of a motorcycle he was test-driving on Lumiaina Street near Lehaku Street, police said. The motorcycle overturned at about 5:50 p.m. and slid under the back of a parked vehicle. The man died at St. Francis Medical Center-West. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident and speed may be a factor, police said.
According to police, the troubles began at 11:09 a.m. when a stolen white Cadillac speeding north on Kamehameha Highway sideswiped a southbound Dodge sedan near Waikulama Street in Hau'ula and then plowed head-on into a south-bound school bus. The bus slammed into a red Volkswagen parked near the ocean.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Rescuers had to use cutters and hydraulic jaws to free the woman pinned inside the mangled Cadillac, said HFD Capt. Emmit Kane.
A car landed on its roof after an accident on the H-1 Freeway between the Makakilo on-ramp and Kunia interchange.
She was taken to The Queen's Medical Center by helicopter in critical condition. Two other people involved in the accident were transported by ambulance to Castle Medical Center, treated and released.
The highway was closed in both directions for nearly five hours and traffic re-routed as police investigated.
Mary Anne Long, who got caught in the jam on her way back to Hau'ula, said cars were backed up to Punalu'u. She pulled off to the side of the road and read a book while she waited things out.
"This just happens too often," said Long. "People have got to start driving more responsibly. I don't know what the solution is."
On the Leeward side, all lanes of the eastbound H-1 Freeway were closed for 2 hours and 15 minutes between Makakilo and Kunia after a black 1994 Honda Accord overturned three miles east of Makakilo at 12:27 p.m.
Police said the car, driven by a 21-year-old Waipahu man, was speeding when it went out of control, veered into the concrete medium and flipped upside down. Police said alcohol appeared to be a factor.
Both the driver and the 22-year-old Waipahu man riding in the passenger seat were injured, and, according to Kane, the car had to be lifted to free one man pinned beneath the vehicle. Both were taken to Queen's in critical condition, police said.
Jim Richardson • Special to The Advertiser
"These people have got to get a grip," shouted a frustrated Marie Sheldon of Makakilo, who ended up stuck in traffic that had been re-routed on Old Farrington Highway.
Traffic is bumper-to-bumper Honolulu-bound on the H-1 Freeway near — Campbell Industrial Park. The backup stretched for about six miles.
"You're not talking about people going 60 miles an hour. You're talking about people going 80. That's ridiculous. These kids — if they can't learn to behave like adults, they shouldn't be allowed to drive."
Back on the Windward side, only minutes after police had reopened Kamehameha Highway — at around 4:40 p.m. — a silver Lexus SUV traveling south on the highway near Johnson Road, plowed into a utility support pole, spun around and landed on its side.
Mark Kirst, 48, of 'Aiea was directly behind the SUV when it turned over.
"I don't know if the driver was distracted or what, but the impact snapped the right front tire off the SUV," said Kirst, who dialed 911 and then ran to the overturned vehicle, which he said had a man and three women inside.
All four were taken to the hospital by ambulance, although their condition was not immediately disclosed. Kamehameha Highway was re-opened about an hour after the crash.
Authorities were at a loss to explain the rash of accidents.
"I've never seen any day quite like this day," said Capt. Kane, who ended up fighting a Chinatown fire last night.
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
