An 18-year-old bicyclist remains in critical condition after a City and County transit bus struck him on Kamehameha Highway in Kalihi before dawn Friday. Police were called to the scene at about 3 a.m., and the bus operator and all ten passengers aboard were left shaken but unharmed.
According to what was reported to police and detailed by Hawaii News Now, the 64-year-old male bus operator was driving eastbound on Kamehameha Highway with his ten passengers when the teen, who had been riding westbound on the sidewalk, entered the roadway and crossed directly into the bus's path. The bus struck him, and he was ejected from his bicycle onto the roadway. Emergency Medical Services transported him to an area hospital, where he remained in critical condition.
The bus operator and his ten passengers stayed at the scene afterward and were not injured, the outlet's report said. Investigators noted that the teenager was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Per the same report, speed, drugs and alcohol were not considered contributing factors to the collision at this point, though the investigation remains ongoing.
A Pattern of Close Calls Along Oahu's Roads
Friday's crash adds to a string of recent collisions involving cyclists on Oahu. In May, a 19-year-old e-bicyclist suffered multiple serious injuries after colliding with a car on Kamehameha Highway on a Monday morning, according to the same Hawaii News Now report, with EMS administering advanced life support before transporting him to an emergency room. In a separate incident reported by KITV, a bicyclist believed to be in his 20s was hospitalized in serious condition after being hit by a vehicle near Monsarrat Avenue and Campbell Avenue in Honolulu, with EMS responding around 8:15 a.m.
Buses themselves have also been involved in prior cyclist crashes. A 68-year-old woman was seriously injured in a bus-and-bicyclist collision in downtown Honolulu near Beretania and Queen Emma streets, the same outlet reported, after the crash occurred shortly after 1:30 p.m. on a Tuesday. And last month, a 40-year-old bicyclist died after being struck by a vehicle on Sand Island Access Road near Keehi Marina Boat Harbor, also in Kalihi, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. That fatality was Oahu's 31st traffic death of 2026, compared with 68 at the same point in 2025, the paper reported.
Helmet Use Remains a Persistent Concern
The lack of a helmet in Friday's crash echoes a broader safety gap documented across the island this year. KHON2 reported that Honolulu EMS logged 36 incidents in 2026 involving e-bikes, e-scooters, mopeds, motorcycles and similar modes of transportation, with roughly half involving riders who weren't wearing helmets. Twenty people were hospitalized as a result of those crashes, and sixteen of the unhelmeted riders ended up in serious condition, while the rest were hospitalized in critical condition, the station noted.
Honolulu police issued 91 helmet-related citations to riders in 2026, according to the same KHON2 report. For now, investigators have not released the identity of the 18-year-old struck in Kalihi, nor any update on his condition beyond the initial critical designation, and the investigation into Friday's crash continues.
