1 dead, 7 hurt after truck plows into pedestrians

By Curtis Lum, Peter Boylan and Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writers

A pickup truck veered off Kalakaua Avenue onto the sidewalk in the heart of Waikiki yesterday and slammed into pedestrians, killing a visitor from Japan and injuring seven other people, one critically.

A tourist was killed and seven people injured, one critically, when a pickup truck slammed into a crowd in front of the Moana Surf Rider. The accident occurred at about 4:30 in the afternoon in one of the busiest sections of Waikiki. Atilla Jobbagyi • Caught on Tape Video Production

The pickup, which had veered makai on Kalakaua, climbed a curb, struck a fire hydrant and ran into pedestrians on the sidewalk, finally came to a stop in front of the Waikiki police substation. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

The truck dragged the fire hydrant, which still lay under it when the vehicle stopped. Bob Holland photo

Firefighters attend to a victim of the accident. Atilla Jobbagyi • Caught on Tape Video Production

Police said it's surprising more people weren't injured.

"It could have been a lot worse," said police vehicular homicide investigator Sgt. Lorenzo Ridela. "We're lucky that there weren't that many people in that area at the time."

Still, Ridela said this was the worst traffic accident he's seen in Waikiki in 15 years.

Ridela said a Ford F-150 driven by a man in his late 40s or early 50s was in the left lane on Kalakaua Avenue when it veered right. The truck climbed the curb near the Ka'iulani Avenue intersection, hit several brochure stands, slammed into a fire hydrant and then ran into people on the sidewalk.

The truck plowed along the sidewalk and wound up in front of the Waikiki police substation with the hydrant still under its bumper. A plume of water shot up where the hydrant had been sheared off.

A 24-year-old woman from Japan was pronounced dead at the scene. Another Japanese visitor, a 29-year-old man, was in critical condition, Ridela said.

Two other victims were in serious condition and the others, including a boy, suffered minor injuries, said an Emergency Medical Services spokesman.

Ridela said witness accounts vary as to whether the driver was awake or unconscious before the accident.

One witness, Justine Jones of Kapahulu, said the driver appeared to be asleep until the truck hit the fire hydrant and newsstands. She said the truck then seemed to gain speed, and people on the sidewalk jumped out of the way, but others were hit.

"I was walking with my sister and she said, 'Look, is that guy asleep?' By the time I turned, I saw him hit the back end of a white car and go up onto the sidewalk, hit a garbage can and hydrant, and then running over all the people," Jones said. "I was like, 'Why isn't he stopping? Why is he going faster?' "

The accident occurred in one of the busiest areas of Waikiki and hundreds of curious onlookers, some of them snapping photos, milled around the police tape that blocked the scene of the accident. The street was littered with tourist brochures, broken tree branches and other debris.

Police cars and an ambulance encircled the woman's body, which was in the middle of Kalakaua Avenue. Many onlookers gasped when the ambulance drove off, revealing the body wrapped in a white sheet.

Police at the Waikiki substation said that the driver of the truck had not been arrested as of 8:30 p.m. last night and that he was being treated at The Queen's Medical Center. His condition was not available.

Police have opened a negligent homicide investigation, which is routine when a fatal accident occurs.

"Right now it just seems like a freak accident, but more investigation needs to be done," Ridela said.

Kalakaua Avenue was closed for nearly five hours to traffic, which was diverted to Kuhio Avenue, causing a massive jam.

Another witness, Gwen Dunbar, a 17-year-old from Tucson, Ariz., was on the mauka side of the street when she saw the truck rush by, hop the sidewalk and plow into the group of pedestrians.

She said she heard a big crash and people screaming and saw tires burning.

"That could have been me," she said. "I just stood there shaking. It happened so fast, but in my mind I can still hear it and see it."

Firefighters and city lifeguards were the first to arrive.

"This is the worst accident I've seen," said acting Lt. Ian Forester, a 13-year veteran of the city's Ocean Safety division.

Forester said there were victims on both sides of the street, most of them on the makai side.

Yesterday's accident in Waikiki added to a growing list of pedestrian fatalities in Hawai'i this year but probably isn't typical of the dangers most walkers face, several safety advocates said last night.

At least 12 pedestrians have been killed this year in Honolulu, continuing a growing trend over the past several years. Most of those fatalities, however, involved pedestrians who were struck in the roadway or a crosswalk, not on a sidewalk.

In yesterday's accident, the pickup hit the pedestrians on the sidewalk, away from any intersections.

"This isn't the kind of thing you can really watch out for," said retired Army Gen. Irwin Cockett, who was a spokesman this year for the city-sponsored Walk Wise Kupuna pedestrian education project.

"If anything, I think people in Waikiki feel more secure than elsewhere because there are so many people crossing at the same time and because drivers don't generally speed in the area," said Cockett, a Waikiki resident.

Records show it's rare for more than one pedestrian to be injured in the same accident in Hawai'i. A more typical pedestrian accident involves a single walker, often crossing in the middle of a busy road or late at night.

Cockett said the most important thing to remember is that you can never be complacent on the street.

"You just never know what's going to happen. You've got to be alert to everything that's going on around you," he said.

Advertiser staff writer Mike Leidemann contributed to this report.

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