KAHALU'U — Honolulu police were investigating whether the driver of a tour bus involved in a fatal head-on collision with a sport utility vehicle Monday was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, police said.

Killed in the wreck was 41-year-old Corey Voss, who was returning home from surfing when his vehicle collided with the tour bus, friends said. His widow is six months pregnant, they said.

"He was so looking forward to being a father," said one of his friends, Kathy Mangiarelli.

The 49-year-old tour bus driver refused a field sobriety test at the scene of the wreck and later refused to give a blood sample to police at Castle Medical Center, police said. Investigators have asked the company that owns the bus, Roberts Hawai'i, to take a blood sample from the man.

Federal law requires a company employing an individual with a commercial driver's license to test the driver for drugs or alcohol within eight hours of a fatal accident, police said.

The driver was placed on administrative leave by the company after the accident Monday.

The driver's attorney, William Harrison, said his client never told him that he had refused a field sobriety test and that he advised his client not to submit to the blood test without first speaking with him. Police said the driver refused both the blood test and the field sobriety test immediately after the accident.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of third-degree negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, according to Harrison and police.

"If he was under the influence, he would have been arrested for manslaughter or negligent homicide in the first or second degree," Harrison said yesterday. "It was clear to me that he was competent and under no influence of any substance."

Honolulu police Capt. Frank Fujii declined comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

According to driving records, the driver was cited in March 2001 for not yielding to a pedestrian and ignoring a stop sign. The man was cited again in June 2001 for not wearing his seat belt.

Robert Moore, chief operating officer for Roberts Hawai'i, did not return calls seeking comment on the police investigation or on whether the company had collected blood from the bus driver.

However, in a written statement issued yesterday, he said: "All of us at Roberts Hawai'i are saddened by this tragic accident. Our hearts are with the family and friends of Corey Voss.

"Because the investigation continues, I cannot address specifics of this accident. Our drivers are subject to regulations of the federal and state DOT regarding driving history, hours worked and drug testing, and we provide additional safety training. We are a family-oriented business and take this incident very hard. We are very, very sorry for the Voss family's loss."

At 2:30 p.m. Monday, the tour bus crossed the center line of Kamehameha Highway and struck the sport utility vehicle head-on. The SUV overturned, and Voss died before firefighters could attempt to remove him from the vehicle.

The collision occurred near the Hygienic Store in Kahalu'u.

The bus then struck a house in the 47-700 block of Kamehameha Highway in Kahalu'u and became wedged under its eaves. A woman was home at the time but was not injured, police said.

Voss, a native of Washington state who moved to the Islands when he was 5, was remembered yesterday by friends and co-workers as a reserved man who had a great sense of humor and cared deeply about others.

Four of his friends gathered at the accident site yesterday and placed flowers and a surfer doll on a rock wall where Voss' vehicle came to rest after the crash. Heliconia, ginger and other flowers and lei adorned the wall. They said their friend of more than a decade had a warm heart and would take care of other people's needs before his own. He was a good-natured man, and friends could not remember seeing him angry, said Raina Rodriguez.

"He never had a bad word to say about anybody," said Don Mangiarelli. "He'd bend over backward to help you if you asked him."

The friends had met when they were co-workers at Mid-Pacific Country Club and had formed a bond that remained strong today, more than 10 years after they left Mid-Pacific and went their separate ways. It was at Mid-Pacific that Voss met his wife, Asa Akamine, who is expecting their first child, friends said.

Akamine could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Voss graduated from Kalaheo High School in 1983 and attended Hawai'i Pacific University, said Kathy Mangiarelli.

He also had been a food and beverage manager at O'ahu Country Club for many years.

Voss' supervisor there, Loren Pippin, described a hard-working, gentle man who was well liked and who had established himself in the hospitality management world.

Voss, who recently accepted a job as assistant manager at the Embassy Suites hotel being built in Waikiki, had just celebrated with the staff at the country club during the club's 100th anniversary lu'au on Sunday.

"Corey was there, and we were all together, and then to receive a phone call the next day, it was a surreal experience," said Pippin. "He was just a very giving and caring individual who really had the aloha spirit. It's really devastating to all of us."

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com and Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.