For the third time in little over a year, the waters of Honokohau Harbor in Kailua-Kona have inexplicably claimed another vehicle; this curious sequence of aquatic mishaps continues to trouble both officials and local residents alike. According to Island News, the latest incident occurred this past week when a 33-year-old woman was instructed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to move her parked car from the top of the boat ramp, only to experience technical difficulties that ended with the vehicle submerged in the harbor's depths.
Witness accounts as noted in the Island News report detailed a chaotic scene where the woman's car, originally non-compliant to ignition requests, lurched into motion after a belated start, prompting Department of Land and Natural Resources officers to intervene, they yelled for her to get out of the car and swim to shore and then they cuffed her and took her away; Department of Land and Natural Resources cited the cuffing as a measure "for her own protection," without handing out any citations for the incident.
Earlier mishaps involved less familiarity with the locale, with tourists following GPS directions into the harbor, as noted in a separate article from Hawaii News Now. Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth expressed his disbelief and frustration, remarking, "The first time I heard it, the thought in my head was, you got to be joking," and adding, "The third was — are you seriously? This is just another form of people not paying attention to what they’re doing."
The localized pattern of vehicular plunges has led to questions about the adequacy of signage and the potential role of navigation systems in these incidents despite announcements from Google stating their dedication to safety and their commitment to investigate the routes provided by their maps, and a Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating & Ocean Recreation representative has defended the area's lighting and signage, calling the accidents "operator error," saying the boat ramp is "hard to miss," as per Hawaii News Now.
For now, the community awaits responses regarding increased safety measures, such as illuminated signage, which Department of Land and Natural Resources has yet to publicly address, inquiries made by Island News remain without specific answers; meanwhile, locals took matters into their own hands as boatmen assisted in the retrieval of the waterlogged Prius the day following the incident under challenging weather conditions.
