A pickup truck crossed the center line and smashed into this car yesterday on Kamehameha Highway. A woman, still conscious but in pain, was pinned in the car. Firefighters freed her, but she later died at Queen's Hospital. Photo by Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
"You don't have any room or time for evasive action," said veteran police officer Loren Andrade, who drove that stretch twice a day from 1984-86 while assigned to the Kahuku substation.
A head-on collision at the site yesterday claimed the life of a 54-year-old Laie woman, Pepe Tanuvasa, whose car struck a pickup truck that had crossed into the Kaneohe-bound lane.
The driver of the truck, 17, is in serious condition at Castle Hospital. His name was not available.
Five cars were damaged in the 9:20 a.m. accident, which closed Kamehameha Highway for four hours. No other serious injuries were reported.
The driver of a tow truck moving the damaged Honda from the scene
stops near Waikane Valley to re-adjust his rig.
Photo by Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Only 21 collisions were classified as minor in the same area over the past four years.
The paved shoulder on either side of the roadway is 4 feet wide but less in some places due to trees and utility poles.
"It seems like every pole and tree there has taken a life," Andrade said.
Speaking personally and not as a police officer, Andrade said eliminating the trees and poles to widen the roadway would help.
"It would give you a chance to make an evasive movement," Andrade added. "I think a safety zone lane in the middle would be ideal."
In yesterday's crash, police said the northbound pickup truck crossed the center line and clipped a vehicle before colliding with the woman's car. The vehicles then collided with two other cars.
Kaaawa firefighters arrived minutes after the crash was reported at 9:30 a.m.
The woman, pinned in her car, was conscious and coherent but in pain, acting Kaaawa fire Capt. Darrell Kuioka said.
Firefighters pulled up the steering wheel and used the Jaws-of-Life to cut off the roof and doors of the car to free her.
The woman was transported by helicopter to Queen's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 11:09 a.m.