ROSEMARIE BERNARDO / RBERNARDO@STARBULLETIN.COM
On Kalanianaole Highway fronting Olomana Golf Links, friends and relatives of Ramus Seabury comforted each other yesterday at the crash site where Seabury was killed Sunday morning on his way to work.
State weighs State transportation officials are looking into installing plastic rumble strips along Kalanianaole Highway following Sunday's accident that killed 62-year-old Ramus Seabury, of Waimanalo.
solutions for
deadly stretch
of road
Rumble strips or a median barrier
may help prevent more
fatalities near Olomana linksBy Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com
But family members and district lawmakers say it is not enough.
"That won't work," said Seabury's wife, Harriet.
"We want to stop them from crossing over (the center line)."
Seabury was killed when his pickup truck was struck by another pickup which had crossed the center line where Kalanianaole Highway narrows to two lanes from four lanes near Olomana Golf Links and New Town and Country Stables.
The accident happened about 4:31 a.m.
Police said excessive speed and alcohol appeared to be factors in the crash, and they have opened a negligent-homicide investigation.
The 19-year-old man driving the other pickup and his 19-year-old passenger suffered minor injuries.
Seabury, a retired foreman from Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., was heading in the Kailua direction on his way to work at the Clipper Golf Course at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Yesterday, family and friends placed flowers and Styrofoam cups of coffee from 7-Eleven at the crash site. Loved ones said Seabury regularly purchased coffee at the convenience store before heading to work.
Transportation officials have discussed the possibility of installing a physical barrier along the median, however, engineers had concerns that it would cause more accidents.
"If you hit the side, the vehicle can be redirected and can hit another vehicle," said state highways administrator Glenn Yasui.
An engineer from the state Highways Division spent yesterday assessing the crash site. Further work is expected to be done to determine where the plastic strips -- traffic devices similar to speed bumps -- are to be placed.
Yasui noted that driver behavior and education should be the primary effort to help prevent further accidents.
"Adding something physical to the highway may not be the solution," he said.
Waimanalo Neighborhood Board Chairman Wilson Kekoa Ho said that if rumble strips are installed, they need to be placed before the lanes merge in order to give motorists ample time to adjust their driving speed.
"Maybe about 50 yards before the merge," said Ho. "If it's too close, people will just get scared but keep going. ... Everybody's going so fast, there's no time to do anything."
Two years ago, 32-year-old Lorrie-Ann Wiley died near Olomana Golf Course when a vehicle driven by 23-year-old Kam Williams slammed into her car. Williams has since been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
State Rep. Tommy Waters (D, Lanikai-Waimanalo) and Sen. Fred Hemmings (R, Lanikai-Waimanalo) said that a physical barrier is needed to deter motorists from crossing the center line.
Waters said he understands the state's concerns that a physical barrier may lead to more accidents, "but a head-on collision is worse."
"We have to take more of a definitive action," said Hemmings, who wrote a letter yesterday to state Transportation Director Rodney Haraga in hopes that emergency funds will be used to install a median guardrail immediately.
"You need something that keep cars from crossing over," Hemmings said.
Last summer, rumble strips were installed in Maili near Kaukama Road after speed-related accidents in the area. State transportation officials plan to add three additional groups of strips if the first group proves to be effective, Yasui said.
Harriet Seabury plans to collect signatures this weekend at the Waimanalo Carnival for a petition to install a physical barrier along the highway near Olomana Golf Links.
"I don't want this to happen again," she said. "I'm fighting for my husband."
Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Antone contributed to this story.
