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Two pedestrians struck
and killed over weekend

Road conditions in Kaaawa
are blamed in one fatality

By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

Police are investigating the deaths of two pedestrians who were were struck and killed in separate accidents this weekend.

Aurelio Valera, 85, of Imelda Street was struck about 6 a.m. yesterday while walking to church on Fort Weaver Road near Renton Road. Police said Valera was crossing Fort Weaver Road against a red light at about 6 a.m. when a four-door sedan, which had the green light, struck him.

He was taken to St. Francis Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said speed and alcohol were not involved in the accident.

On Saturday, a tour bus struck a 35-year-old woman in Kaaawa while she was walking along Kamehameha Highway near Kaaawa Place at about 6:30 p.m.

Police said she was walking along the narrow makai shoulder and was struck by the bus from behind as she stepped around two vehicles parked on the shoulder.

The woman, whose identity was not released, was flown to Kapiolani Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Police said speed and alcohol were not involved.

Debbie Hilweh, president of the Kaaawa Community Association, said road conditions are dangerous for pedestrians in the neighborhood, and she plans to bring her concerns to the association board meeting in March.

"We have no sidewalk. We have no curbing. The shoulder is too close to the highway, and there may be cars parked there. Where are you supposed to go if you are walking?"

Hilweh said drivers disregarding speed limits and other traffic rules make the dangerous situation even worse.

There have been eight traffic fatalities so far this year on Oahu; five of those killed were pedestrians.

Four of the pedestrian victims were age 64 or older.