A pickup truck was spotted heading the wrong direction on the westbound H-1 Freeway near Waikele late Monday night, and a video of the incident has since circulated online. The driver appeared to be speeding, and as of Wednesday no one had been arrested.
According to KITV, Honolulu police received calls about a wrong-way driver at about 11 p.m. Monday. The truck was reportedly traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of the freeway near Waikele, per the Honolulu Police Department.
The station's report notes that the driver appeared to be speeding in a video posted on social media. Police had not identified the driver, and the investigation remained ongoing.
What Police Haven't Said
Plenty remains unknown. The report does not say why the truck ended up in the wrong-way lanes, and it does not describe any collision, injury or property damage.
Details about the original video, including where it was first posted, were not available. Police had not announced any arrest as of the latest update.
Why Wrong-Way Drivers Worry Safety Officials
Wrong-way crashes are relatively uncommon, but they tend to be severe. A National Transportation Safety Board report found they accounted for only about 3 percent of accidents on high-speed divided highways yet were more likely to cause fatal or serious injuries. The same analysis of 2004–2009 national data found roughly 78 percent of such collisions happened between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., which fits the late-night timing of Monday's sighting.
The NTSB also found that 60 percent of wrong-way drivers in its fatal-crash dataset had indications of alcohol involvement. Those are historical national findings, and nothing in the reporting on this incident points to a cause.
Not the First Wrong-Way Scare on Oahu
Other recent wrong-way incidents on Oahu have ended in tragedy. Hawaii News Now reported that a 93-year-old man died after driving the wrong way and striking a 41-year-old motorist on the North King Street off-ramp of the Moanalua Freeway on May 11.
In an earlier case, KHON2 reported that a 25-year-old woman driving on the wrong side of the H-1 collided head-on with an 18-wheeler around 3:45 a.m. on a Sunday in July. The crash shut down the westbound lanes until just after 9 a.m.
