Collision kills
girl, injures 7

The accident rekindles alarm
about traffic along Kunia Road

By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin

Leeward residents are looking for ways to improve safety on Kunia Road after a girl was killed and seven other people were injured in a car crash last night.

The 6:05 p.m. accident near the Kupuna Loop entrance to Village Park subdivision occurred when a northbound 1978 Chevrolet Camaro overtook a second vehicle, spun out of control, crossed the center line and was struck head-on by a Toyota Corolla, police said.

Speed and alcohol may have been factors in the accident, investigators said.

A 5-year-old girl, a passenger in the Camaro, was killed in the crash. The 33-year-old Wahiawa man driving the car was listed in guarded condition at St. Francis Medical Center West. The two adults and four children in the Toyota also were injured.

"It is a very dangerous road," said fire department acting Battalion Chief Robert Ludwick.

"The speed is posted at 45 but people often go faster. We get some horrendous wrecks out there," he said.

Annette Yamaguchi, chairwoman of the Waipahu Neighborhood Board, said, "The roads out there have caused us concern for a long time. This is a stretch where people are constantly jockeying for position."

The uphill grade can slow Waialua-bound vehicles and stimulate others to pass, she said. And there is a heavy volume of traffic turning into Kupuna Loop, which is the route to a Wal-Mart store entrance.

"People have been asking to have that area widened," Yamaguchi said. "I don't think anyone has the solution. Everything has been a Band-Aid. It's part of the bigger picture of the whole interchange to take care of traffic going into Ewa."

Waipahu Neighborhood Board member Richard Oshiro said there is a plan for Castle & Cooke to widen Kunia Road as part of development of the area.

"We've been asking the city since Wal-Mart opened up to put in a traffic light" at Kupuna Loop, he said. "There have been accidents in that area in the past."

Last night, the road was closed until nearly midnight while detectives investigated the scene.

Firefighters had to use hydraulic rescue tools to pry apart the Toyota and extricate the driver, 28, and front-seat passenger, 30, both women.

"The front end was pushed back into the driver compartment," Ludwick said.

"A child, who may have been in the seat, went through the windshield."

A woman and three children were flown to Queen's Medical Center by military helicopter. None was in critical condition, according to a nursing supervisor.

The other woman in the Toyota was listed in guarded condition at St. Francis Medical Center West.

A teen-age boy was in stable condition at Pali Momi Hospital.

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‘Photo radar’ may be used
on highway speeders

A company may set up the speed traps
between Kuilima and Kahaluu

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

Kahuku High School principal Lea Albert calls Kamehameha Highway between Kuilima and Kahaluu a "killing field."

She's been to the funerals of 10 students who died along that stretch of highway, mostly because of speed-related accidents.

Area resident MaryAnne Long said, since 1992, 38 people have died on the highway. Ten people died there in just one year, 1995, which accounted for nearly 13 percent of traffic fatalities for the entire state.

"Please, please help us out," Long pleaded to House Judiciary Committee members Friday.

Long, Albert and others who live along the highway are asking lawmakers to allow Honolulu Police to set up a "photo radar" demonstration project on Oahu to help crack down on people who speed on the highway.

It would allow a private company to set up photo speed traps triggered by radar. The devices would take pictures of license plates of speeders or of cars that run red lights at intersections. The company would then send a citation to the car owner -- and the firm, state and city would split the fines.

Police say the device would pay for itself and there would be no cost to the city or the state.

Rep. Colleen Meyer (R, Kahaluu) showed the committee a map of the highway with yellow and red dots indicating where fatal accidents have happened.

The map was surrounded by 8-by-10-inch photos of smashed cars. Some were wrapped around trees and telephone poles. Another showed the aftermath of a head-on collision. In one photo, the covered body of a teen-ager is still inside a mangled car.

"It's frightening," Meyer said. "People feel like they're taking their life in their hands when they have to go home at night."

The testimony was effective.

House Judiciary Committee chairman Terrance Tom (D, Kaneohe) said he had planned to hold the bill because of privacy concerns but changed his mind.

He said the committee would pass the bill today or later this week, if supporters come up with amendments to ensure the addresses of people sent tickets remain private.

Meyer said there are only three police officers who patrol the rural highway and that makes it difficult to catch or crack down on speeders.

Police say the device could be an ideal solution. It's portable and can be set up anywhere on the island, but Kamehameha Highway would be a priority.

"Saving lives -- that's the bottom line," said Capt. Mike Hama of the Honolulu Police Department.