GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Pedestrians in Makaha continued jaywalking yesterday in an area of Farrington Highway where a woman was struck and killed Thursday by a town-bound vehicle. The state plans to begin an $8 million safety-improvements project along the 17-mile stretch of road in October.
Arrest made in
pedestrian deathThe third fatality in a week
on Farrington Highway raises
new concerns about safety
LaVern May Yamura, 60, had just bought ice and two Rocky Road candy bars at the Makaha 7-Eleven convenience store about 8:45 Thursday evening when she started crossing Farrington Highway toward the ocean, according to police and witnesses.
Yamura, who police said was wearing dark clothes and not walking in a crosswalk, never made it to the other side.
Tavale Veligitone Jr., 20, a clerk who bagged her groceries that night, said a white car came down Makaha Valley Road and cut across the 7-Eleven parking lot. The car took a wide turn onto Farrington Highway and hit Yamura.
The car continued in the direction of Honolulu, witnesses said.
Police immediately began searching for a compact white car, possibly a Honda, with a crumpled right fender or hood and a smashed windshield. Early yesterday morning, police arrested a 45-year-old Makaha woman for possible hit-and-run charges and released her pending further investigation.
Yamura, who died of cardiac arrest at the scene, is the third pedestrian to die in the second fatal accident in a week on Farrington Highway, where traffic and lighting conditions have been community concerns.
On the evening of June 27, a homeless man and his 7-year-old son were crossing Farrington Highway on a stretch farther south in Nanakuli where they were struck by a bronze Dodge van.
The father, Paul "Paulie" Brezowski, 48, died at the scene. His son, Matthew, died en route to Waianae Comprehensive Health Center. The two were on their way to Sack 'N Save to buy the father a birthday cake.
The driver told police he never saw the pair until he hit them. Police have ruled out alcohol as a factor and are continuing their investigation. But witnesses of the Nanakuli and Makaha accidents pointed to dim street lighting as a possible contributing factor in the accidents.
"The road is very dimly lit here and the cars are speeding," said Lynnette Atualevao, 37, the Makaha 7-Eleven clerk who was the last to speak to Yamura when she returned to the store to retrieve a forgotten Thermos.
Atualevao said: "There are parts of Farrington that are only lit on one side (the mauka side) of the street, and this is one of those parts. It's really bad in Nanakuli and Makaha."
The Brezowskis, who were walking in a crosswalk, were also in a stretch that is only lit on one side of the street.
The state recognizes there are safety problems and plans to install $8 million worth of safety improvements along a 17-mile stretch of Farrington, said Scott Ishikawa, state Department of Transportation spokesman.
The work, which is scheduled to begin in October, will include a median barrier for a one-mile segment between Nanakuli and Maili.
Additional street lighting is planned for Farrington Highway from Ala Hema Street to Makaha Valley Road, the scene of the Thursday night fatality. Ishikawa also said that highway lines and crosswalks will be restriped from Nanakuli to Waianae.
Police are still investigating whether speed or alcohol were factors in the accident that killed Yamura. One witness reported the headlights on the car that struck her were not turned on.
Atualevao said she did not hear brakes or see brake marks in the road.
"The car hit her going fast," said Atualevao. "She was hit in front of our store and landed two telephone poles away down the road."
Yamura moved to the Makaha Surfside in Waianae less than a month ago.
Atualevao said Yamura lived with a friend who was distraught at the scene of the accident Thursday night.
Family members said that Yamura's husband, James, died in December. Yamura was a truck driver and scalemaster who once worked for the city and county. Family members said Yamura, who did not have a job, had struggled financially for months.
"It's all just very sad," said Helen Kami, Yamura's sister-in-law. "She couldn't pay her rent in Palolo housing, so she was evicted. Then she lived with relatives and friends. Finally, she got her own home in Makaha. And now this happens."
