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Kokua Line
Question: I was involved in a car accident on the University offramp, going east on the H-1. The other car hit me from the back and pushed me into the guardrail. I saw an officer taking a statement from the person who hit me and I kept waiting for him to come and take my statement. But before I could talk to him, he got into his car and drove off. I didn't think anything more about this until weeks later, when I saw the accident report and my insurance company said I was at fault. I went to the police station and was told nobody could change the police report. I am trying to resolve this problem with my insurance company, but in the meantime, I want to find out why that officer did not take my statement. What is the policy on this? Police might assess
blame in accidentsAnswer: Because no one was injured in the accident, your case was classified a Major Type B motor vehicle accident.
"Major Type B reports don't get investigated," explained Honolulu Police Department Lt. Carlton Nishimura, of the East Honolulu District.
All an officer does in these cases is take information about the car and driver (registration, safety check, insurance, etc.) and fill in a diagram sheet, he said.
"All it is is documentation that a collision occurred," Nishimura said. "It's something for the public and insurance companies to access. We don't assess blame."
But police will issue a citation if they find an expired safety check, car registration, auto insurance or driver's license, he said.
By comparison, Type A motor vehicle cases involve injury, Nishimura said. "That opens it up to civil responsibility and that's why we take statements and conduct a full investigation," he said.
Type B usually involves no injury or minor injury. There is also a Minor Type B report in which case "we don't even us a motor vehicle accident form" nor a diagram, Nishimura said. The report just notes that a collision occurred and the names of people involved.
In your case, you are being put at fault because you were supposed to have yielded the right of way to oncoming vehicles, Nishimura said. "Whoever is merging onto a major thoroughfare is supposed to yield."
Q: I live on lower St. Louis Heights. My neighbors across the street get their mail at 11:15 a.m., but I don't get mine until 4 p.m. or thereabouts. Why is mail service so bad that I have to wait that long to get my mail. I'm not able to do any business because it's too late in the afternoon.
A: Two things are factors in your case.
First, your regular mail carrier was injured several weeks ago and his route has been split among several other carriers while he recovers, said U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Felice Broglio.
Second, your street is a relatively long one. The regular procedure in most neighborhoods is for the carrier to go up one side of the street and come back down the other side, Broglio said.
That's "designed for efficiency and safety," she said. So, yes, your neighbors across the street may get their mail several hours before you. When your regular carrier returns soon, your mail should be delivered around 3 p.m., Broglio said.
Until then, because such routes are often added to someone else's regular route, the delivery will be a little later.
FYI, in large mixed commercial/residential neighborhoods, commercial customers will get their mail first. However, that's not the case in a predominantly residential neighborhood, Broglio said.
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
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