Posted on: Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Head-on crash kills Kane'ohe man

The force of a head-on collision between a van and a flatbed truck on Kamehameha Highway yesterday sent both vehicles off the road and onto the rocks and sand near the Crouching Lion Inn in Ka'a'awa. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Advertiser Staff

A 42-year-old Kane'ohe man was killed and another man seriously injured yesterday in a head-on collision involving a flatbed truck and a passenger van on Kamehameha Highway near the Crouching Lion Inn.

Kamehameha Highway was closed between Kahana Bay and Swanzy Beach Park in Ka'a'awa for more than an hour after the 6:10 a.m. accident. One contra-flow lane was opened at 7:40 a.m.

Police said a 1991 Ford flatbed truck was heading toward Kane'ohe when it crossed the center line and collided with the van, killing its driver. The victim's name was not released yesterday.

The 35-year-old driver of the truck was taken to The Queen's Medical Center with critical injuries but was later upgraded to serious condition, police said.

Police said a mechanical problem — possibly a blown tire — may have caused the truck's driver to lose control of his vehicle. The collision forced both vehicles off Kamehameha Highway and onto the rocks and sand that line the ocean.

The death is O'ahu's 33rd traffic fatality of the year compared with 36 on this date in 2003.

It is also the second fatality in as many days.

A 79-year-old woman died Sunday after a two-car accident on Farrington Highway in Waipahu. The medical examiner's office identified her as Thelma Higa.

Police said Higa's 1999 Toyota was struck by a 1997 Dodge while attempting to turn left onto Farrington Highway from Awamoku Street at 6:55 a.m. She and the driver of the Dodge, a 29-year-old man, were taken to Queen's in guarded and good condition, respectively.

Higa, however, suffered a possible heart attack at the hospital and died at 12:30 p.m.

Police said speed appeared to be a factor in the Waipahu collision.