Accident at Hirano's

[lquade]

several months back i found the county plan for another road which would be called kaleponi blvd. it would run from 130. i cant remember which road from orchidland but it went through hawaiian acres at G, cant remember fern acres, kopua farmlots, eden roc at 17th, then kaleponi went all the way to volcano. it was the next PEAR for this area. i cant imagine when the county would have the money for this but when i saw the bid out for kulani road i thought wow, they are starting to think of this. there will be turn lanes each direction at the light at kulani. of course, this light had priority because of the school just a few hundred feet away and all the traffic accidents (fatal) that have occured there. but sometime in the future this will be an additional route.

[Kapohocat]

My only question is and it is not a judgement: Why did the lady behind turn towards the oncoming traffic to avoid rear ending the front car?

The reason I am asking was before I think this was a stupid move - maybe there was a car parked there in her way or something.

My dad, when I was learning to drive 35 yrs ago, told me always pull to the right. The worst you'll do is end up in a ditch but alive.

[Bullwinkle]

I drove by there - didnt see any obvious skid marks - my first knee jerk reaction was texting or on the phone......

[DanielP]

My guess is that the car had slowed to turn, but did not signal, so the lady, hauling ass down that long hill, went to pass him and....oh crap!

[seekir]

Hadn't thought of the no turn signal scenario, it makes sense. Especially if the car's turn signal light wasn't working, though careless drivers who simply don't appreciate the dangers seem to routinely omit signaling. I have a friend who couldn't figure out why I kept looking aft while riding in his car as a passenger (along with his kids) during his no-signal turns. I finally lost my cool and barked at him to "use your signals d**mnit!" I did think of the distraction/cell-phone or alcohol factors possibly contributing to the circumstances of the collision at Hirano's. Seems to me that turn lanes at the busier intersections (Glenwood, Kahauale'a, Hirano store,...) would greatly improve safety and also reduce the momentum/fuel wasting stopping now necessitated by left-turning traffic on our two-lane highways. And turn lanes would require smaller expenditure than lights. I wouldn't personally favor traffic-stopping signals that sacrifice fuel and time, I think alert drivers will be fine with turning lanes, and others should be educated/ticketed if they text/call while driving, neglect to signal, don't maintain their lights, or drive drunk.

Incidentally has anyone else had impatient drivers crossing from the makai side toward the Kea'au bound lanes while Hilo-bound on the divided highway in the vicinity of the Mac-nut farm during heavy traffic? Holy S**t! Drivers are taking their lives in their hands rather than wait for (the admittedly rare) safe gaps in traffic during our "rush hour." I was amazed and horrified after two of these reckless characters did this to me on the same journey to town. Man, a stall or the slightest error and there would have been a highway-speed T-bone that could've easily been deadly.

[Obie]

I think Yurt Girl hit on the problem here:

"The roads are quite hidden from view as you're coming down the highway at 60mph."

I didn't realize the speed limit was 60mph there !!

[ericlp]

Dude probably would have been alive if he wore his seat belt. There are many factors but it's only obvious speed kills, and when driving highway 11 there are TONS of impatient drivers I was staying with a friend in volcano for a few weeks and whoa! I had 2-3 people pass me going up and down. I was doing the speed limit. I'm not sure if they are just young drivers in a rush but passing at night on 11 doesn't seem like too good of an idea. I know that it sucks to get behind a driver on 130 that wants to do 45 all the way into hilo from pahoa but... I'm not gonna risk death or killing someone else trying to gain a few minutes on my trip.

Drive safe everyone.

[seekir]

Tell you what, I generally drive 50mph max on the highway purely because it saves gas. My impression is that a lot of drivers either aren't willing to reduce their max speed in consideration of the fact that speed increases their $4.50+/gal fuel consumption, which of course hits the wallet dead center (even forgetting about all the other good reasons to conserve) or simply don't realize that higher speed/faster acceleration consumes more gas.

[Bullwinkle]

According to the Trib this accident is now a homicide investigation.

No skidmarks or evidence on the roadway of panic braking will be hard to explain away..........

The back up on the roadway underscores how vulnerable we all are to any road closure imho. Think Lava flow........

edit typo

[YurtGirl]

I think the speed limit is actually 55 there, but most average 5 miles over the posted speed limit in my experience. A secondary road connecting the backs of all the subdivisions from Ainaloa on up to Royal Hawaiian Estates seems the most logical, and most pertinent to the state, solution. If the highway closes for any reason, or evacuation needs are imminent, people are screwed. We could further connect roads to the backs of subdivisions from Pahoa to Hilo or Kea'au and then we'd be in some logical state of road planning. Alternate routes are long overlooked or postponed, and fundamental to the basics of county planning. We needed those routes a dang site more than a mulitmillion dollar new road across Saddle Road. Yes, it was a bad road, but it was at least a drivable road.

As for Fern Forest roads, sounds like many of you haven't been to the area lately. In the last two years improvements have been significant and a great relief to many residents. Maile, Eden Rock roads are largely paved. Fern Forest roads are largely unpaved, but the roads have improved significantly with recent changes in the community roads board. The issue with volunteer road fees can be quite clearly seen in the otherwise lovely subdivision of Hawaiian Acres. They have that convenient pass through on Rd. 8, but after that, the roads there are some of the worst I've seen... ANYWHERE. Rd. C takes me 15 minutes to drive less than 3 miles. That's ridiculous already.

I'm confused on the numbered roads in Eden Roc though, because ours aren't numbered that way. Leila is the top road, Queens path (Or King's path as I'd always heard it called?) is just Mauka of that road. That's the only road that I know of that is actually able to be driven through to Eden Roc. Middle Road wouldn't connect, it runs parallel to Eden Roc/Captain's drive. But the road in the middle of the subdivision that connects with the white gate and big rocks in the way, that's toward the middle of the subdivision... is that the one you're claiming people use? How would they use that when it's completely blocked off? So confused...

Kapohocat, my best guess would be, regardless of why they didn't see the turning car, that there was likely a car parked at that intersection, waiting to come off Glenwood, onto the highway. As I said, you can't see cars there until the last second, and in a split second, bad wreck looming, you're going to just react. If you see a stationary car that you know you'd hit vs. a slim chance at squeaking through another route, who knows what the outcome would be. Sad. And totally preventable. In the meantime, until we can get the county to realize the need for action there... what can be done? Those crazy zig zag lines I see on the back streets of Hilo? Those are totally bizarre, but effective!

Melissa Fletcher
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"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973