KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Police investigated the scene of a traffic fatality yesterday on Kaukonahua Road, where a motorcyclist was killed in a head-on crash with an SUV. The crash occurred near roadside memorials for three people in two other motorcycle accidents.
Biker dies on
dangerous roadwayA motorcycle collides with
an oncoming car despite safety bumps
Newly installed safety bumps on a deadly stretch of Kaukonahua Road did not prevent another fatal motorcycle crash yesterday at an S-curve between Thompson Corner and Wilikina Drive.
A 58-year-old Kailua man died after the silver 2003 Harley-Davidson V-Rod he was riding crossed the center line on Kaukonahua Road about 1.4 miles south of Poamoho Street and smashed into an oncoming silver Toyota 4Runner.
The broken vehicles lay at the foot of a dirt embankment just a few feet from two wooden crosses marking the site of two prior fatal motorcycle crashes that killed three people and a few hundred feet from remnants of a makeshift memorial for another accident victim.
The crosses marked the scene where a Navy man and his wife, in their 30s, were killed riding a motorcycle in June 1998, and a 47-year-old Waimanalo woman apparently crossed the center line and collided into a car in February 2002.
E. Roy Gomez, a member of Street Bikers United, a grass-roots motorcycle lobbying group, said the area is a popular scenic drive for motorcyclists "if you aren't speeding."
Police suspect the motorcyclist was speeding as he was driving toward Haleiwa when the accident occurred at about 12:30 p.m.
The city finished installing safety bumps along the sides and the double center line of a series of treacherous S-curves on Kaukonahua Road on June 6. The bumps were designed to alert drivers should they stray over the center line or off the sides of the road.
"The bumps actually would signal a driver that they're off the road or they're crossing the middle," said Sgt. John Agno, of the Honolulu Police Department's Traffic Division. "If you're a careless driver, it doesn't matter how many bumps are on the road."
Agno said the motorcyclist was apparently driving near the shoulder of the oncoming Wahiawa-bound lane when the accident happened.
The man, who was not wearing a helmet, flew into a field on the side of the road. The impact knocked his boots off. He sustained numerous head and body injuries and was taken in critical condition to Wahiawa General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:29 p.m.
Police said there were no skid marks on the road.
A 36-year-old Haleiwa woman, who was driving the Toyota 4Runner, sustained minor injuries and was taken to Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi in good condition, police said.
Gomez said the safety bumps make it hard to control a motorcycle, especially in tight turns, and are slippery when wet, so bikers tend to stay away from them.
Kaukonahua Road was the scene of two fatalities last year and seven fatalities in 2001. A car crash on Kaukonahua Road in April 2001 where three people died prompted the community and the city to try to remedy the problem.
"No matter what we do, drivers need to drive responsibly," said Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz, chairman of the City Council Public Safety Committee.
He said the community has felt "a slight sense of safety" since the bumps were installed.
But, "ultimately, it's in the drivers' hands," he said.
