Some drivers have long considered the part of H-1 Freeway where a 54-year-old Mililani man was killed yesterday to be a tricky and potentially hazardous stretch of road.

The accident happened near the town-bound H-1 and H-2 interchange, where the right lane of H-2 merges into the left H-1 lane, forcing vehicles to cross paths.

Police said yesterday's accident happened around 10:25 a.m. as a gray Saturn traveling east in the second lane on H-1 pulled into the far left lane and clipped a 2003 Toyota Matrix driven by the Mililani man.

The driver of the Toyota lost control, and the vehicle struck a light pole, flipped over, careened down a grassy median and plowed upside down into a concrete medial wall — pinning the man inside, police said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by Emergency Medical Services personnel at 10:45 a.m., according to EMS spokesman Bryan Cheplic.

The accident site was about 400 feet east of the Farrington Highway overpass on H-1 between Waipahu and Pearl City.

"Can't stand that H-1/H-2 merge," said one posting on The Advertiser Web site yesterday in reaction to the accident. "It's just astounding that there haven't been more fatal crashes there. ... I've seen too many idiots go blazing through and cutting people off."

In the past, the state Department of Transportation has said that H-1 motorists have the right of way because H-2 drivers are merging into H-1 at that interchange, while H-1 drivers have a continuous route toward town. However, many motorists seem to be confused about which side should yield to the other at the interchange.

Investigators said the driver of the Saturn, a 19-year-old Waipahu man, had two passengers in his vehicle — a 19-year-old woman and a 9-month-old boy, both also from Waipahu. None of the occupants in the Saturn was injured, police said.

Police at the scene blocked off the three inside lanes of H-1 throughout the morning and early afternoon, backing up H-2 traffic coming from the North Shore The lanes were reopened around 2 p.m.

Cars and trucks coming from West O'ahu were also slowed to a crawl, although the line of vehicles coming from that direction did not stretch nearly as far as the H-2 backup.

The driver of the Toyota had to be cut out of the vehicle. The body was taken to the Honolulu medical examiner's office; officials there said an autopsy would be performed today.

Maj. Frank Fujii of the Honolulu Police Department said no charges have been filed in connection with the accident, but that the investigation is continuing. He said investigators determined that neither speed nor alcohol were factors in the crash.

The traffic fatality was the 24th this year, compared with 36 at this time a year ago, Honolulu police said.