Major crashes on Hawaii Island prompt safety warning ahead of holiday weekend

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii Island police are investigating a pair of major crashes that happened within hours of each other Tuesday, including one that left a 3-year-old boy in critical condition.

Investigators say the boy is recovering in the intensive care unit at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. His 1-year-old brother and mom were released from the hospital Tuesday.

The single-car crash happened Tuesday around 3:30 a.m. when their car left Highway 11 near mile marker 99, went down an embankment and crashed into a tree.

Hours after that crash, police responded to a head-on collision on Daniel K Inouye Highway.

A Honda CRV collided with a Ford F-150 pickup truck near the Mauna Kea Access Road.

The three people involved remain in serious condition at the Queen’s Medical Center.

Police say speed is a constant problem on that stretch of road.

“As the speed doubles, the force quadruples,” said HPD Sgt. Jeremy Riddle.

“So if you get impact speeds from almost 40 mph, it’s gonna be four times worse at 80 mph. We’re talking up there on DKI Highway where the speed limit is 60, but when you get vehicles passing, they have to reach 80-90 sometimes 100 mph to actually pass those vehicles.”

In the last year, police have issued fewer speeding citations on the DKI Highway compared to 2022.

However, there’s been an increase in major traffic crashes — with 19 so far this year compared to 14 from January to June 2022.

HPD is reminding drivers to obey posted speed limits, especially with the Independence Day weekend approaching.

“I can remember several instances where I’m on the side of the road at a traffic stop and I can feel the side view mirror scraping across the back of my ballistic vest,” said Riddle.

“It’s where inches matter, just a few more inches and I could have been one of those statistics up there.”

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