Pedestrian is killed in Makaha hit-and-run

Oahu pedestrian fatalities now total nine this year

Police were looking for the hit-and-run driver of a car that struck and killed a man crossing Farrington Highway in Makaha last night.

The man, possibly in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:06 p.m., said Emergency Services Department spokesman Bryan Cheplic.

Police dispatch said the car that hit the man was described as a four-door sedan, possibly a green or blue Honda.

Oahu pedestrian fatalities now total nine this year, in less than two months. Twenty pedestrians were killed last year on Oahu. Seventeen people have been killed on Oahu's roads this year.

Last night's accident occurred in front of the Makaha Surfside apartments at 85-175 Farrington Highway.

Juanita Green, a Makaha Surfside employee, said the man who was struck might have been a resident.

"This is not the first resident who got banged," Green said. "It's like the third."

"One resident is in a wheelchair because of that situation," she said.

The apartments are on the makai side of Farrington, and people often cross the highway, she said.

She said residents have been planning to petition the state to restore traffic lights in the area. "We really would like to have that back here again," Green said.

Police could not confirm last night whether a traffic light had been removed.

The last pedestrian to die on Oahu was Lois Reed, a 66-year-old Honolulu woman. She died Friday after being struck Thursday morning while crossing Beretania Street. Reed was hit by a sport utility vehicle driven by a 63-year-old woman turning left from Piikoi Street. Both driver and Reed had the green light, and Reed was in a crosswalk. The SUV driver said she could not see Reed crossing the street.