RICHARD WALKER / STAR-BULLETIN

Workers removed parts of the Waialae Chevron sign damaged
by a car crash yesterday morning. In the foreground are skid
marks on the sidewalk.

Collisions around
Oahu leave 3 dead

Speed or alcohol are considered
to be factors in 3 incidents

---

By Leila Fujimori and Lisa Asato
Star-Bulletin

Police believe speed or alcohol were factors in three separate traffic incidents that left three people dead on Oahu roadways as the Kamehameha Day holiday weekend began.

A 19-year-old Aina Haina man died after his 1993 Acura Integra flew off an elevated portion of the H-1 freeway and landed on Waialae Avenue below, ramming a Chevron gas station sign and splitting apart.

"The car was in numerous pieces and open at the firewall," said Traffic Sgt. David Talon.

Talon said the driver was racing another car at about 3:30 a.m. yesterday. Police said they are looking for a white Volkswagen Jetta involved in the race. Witnesses said the Jetta got off the freeway, came back to the scene and then drove off.

The man was taken to Queen's Hospital in critical condition, where he died.

Barney Robinson, the Waialae Chevron dealer who was working at the time, was jolted by the loud crash. "It was loud, and it was continuous," he said. "Usually you hear tires skidding and the impact. This was crunch, crunch, crunch, multiple bangs." He said the driver was apparently thrown from the car. He was lying unconscious on his back about 5 feet away from the wreckage.

In Nanakuli on Friday night, a 7-year-old boy died after he and his father were struck by a Toyota while crossing Farrington Highway in front of the Hawaiian Electric Co. Kahe power plant.

Police said the driver was arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide, driving under the influence and driving without a license. Talon said the father and son, Kalihi residents, were not in a crosswalk when they were running across the street from a bus stop to the beach at about 8:15 p.m. Both were taken to St. Francis Medical Center-West, where the boy died about an hour later. The 54-year-old father was listed in good condition with leg injuries, police said.

In Wahiawa, a 55-year-old man died yesterday morning when he drove his Honda off the roadway and struck a large wooden utility pole, police said. Speed appears to be a factor in the 4:54 a.m. accident, but it is unknown whether alcohol was also a factor, police said.

His death is Oahu's 31st traffic fatality compared to 33 at the same time last year.