The sound of a crash down on the highway woke me up early this morning. The clock said 2:45 a.m. I didn’t hear brakes, or skidding. Just the crunch of metal. Later, sirens. Then silence.
Turns out it was yet another accident outside the 7-11 in Kaaawa. A car pulling out of the 7-11 parking lot onto Kamehameha Highway didn’t see the truck, and was driven into the telephone pole across the road.
“She was T-boned into the pole,” said the HPD officer still filling out paperwork when we walked past at 6:25 on our regular early morning walk to the beach.
The car had been towed away by the time we arrived. The tow truck had just arrived to haul the wrecked truck away. Both air bags in the truck had deployed, but the windshield on the passenger side was still shattered by an impact.
A friend who lives just a couple of houses away made an interesting point.
“In Kaaawa, the community is the first responder.”
Within minutes, neighbors who responded to the sound of the crash had flares on the road, and cones to guide motorists around the accident scene.
There’s an EMT station right next door to the 7-11 with its own emergency medical van. But, with public budgets as they are, it isn’t staffed between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. And I was told it took a number of minutes for Engine 21 from the fire station just down to block to roll to the scene.
And so it goes on an otherwise peaceful Sunday morning.
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
“There’s an EMT station right next door it isn’t staffed between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. ”
when this kinda thing happens most often…
“A car pulling out of the 7-11 parking lot onto Kamehameha Highway didn’t see the truck” Big, wide open area, with no limited visibility or foliage to prevent seeing a big white truck comin at ya. They should not be driving if they do not want to look thru the car windows at other traffic.
Coming back from Puna to Hilo saw an accident with a car overturned into the ditch (which is basically lava) and many people standing around. Cops and ambulance were barreling down the road as we continued on. It looked very bad.
We were rear ended not long ago in our old Volvo which was totaled but saved us from injury.
But its always the fault of the roads! gotta improve the shoulders. intersections, then no more accidents! k den. we improved them. ok. woops more accidents! Change the roads again! fault of the roads!
Just down the road in Laie, we’ve seen/heard 5 or 6 accidents in the past 5 years. One slammed into our parked car (tourist fell asleep at the wheel), one crashed through our neighbor’s fence and into their shed, but the worst was the truck which took a corner too sharply, decanting its passenger from the back one night. That one was a fatality and, as in Kaaawa, neighbors were the first responders in the middle of the night. Don’t know what the solution is, but enforcing speed limits might help.
People who are inclined, will speed above and beyond that which is prudent as often as they can. Regardless of signage telling people what to do. They feel those signs are for everyone esle, the suckers out there. Signs are for the law abiders, scofflaws will speed, tailgate, drive 65 in the rain, take corners too sharply, lanejump, cut in line, basically drive like they are in el lay. To get where quicker? Their 6 feet under, plot of ground.