Tragedy struck on a dusky road in Honoka‘a, Hawai‘i this past Sunday. The Hawai‘i Island police are currently investigating a motor vehicle-pedestrian collision that resulted in the death of a male pedestrian along Highway 19, according to an official report published yesterday by the Hawai‘i Police Department. The incident, which took place near the 43.5-mile marker, has since sparked a negligent homicide investigation.
Details released by the Hawai‘i Police Department indicate that at around 7:33 p.m., officers were dispatched following reports of a traffic hazard involving a person wearing dark clothing walking near the 47-mile marker on the same highway. En route to the scene, a southbound vehicle abruptly swerved into the opposing lane, where the officers then came upon the man, now lying on the pavement. Despite immediate life-saving efforts by the officers and subsequent CPR administered by the Hawai‘i Fire Department, the pedestrian's life was claimed, his passing confirmed at 7:51 p.m., at a place not marked for crossing.
The identity of the deceased is being kept under wraps for the time being, as authorities work on positive identification and await to notify his next of kin. Meanwhile, an autopsy is awaited to conclusively determine the cause of death. The driver involved, a 53-year-old woman from Honoka’a, driving a 2018 Toyota 4Runner, was reported unharmed in the aftermath of the fatal collision.
The investigation is being headed by the Area I Traffic Enforcement Unit, which has preliminarily ruled out speed, alcohol, or drugs as factors in the unfortunate event. The department is seeking any available information connected to the accident, requesting witnesses to reach out to Officer Laurence Davis, with contact details provided in the initial police statement. In terms of road safety, the incident marks the 18th fatality of the year on Hawai‘i's roads, a sobering decrease from 24 fatalities around the same time last year.
