KAILUA-KONA — Less than three weeks after a crash in Honalo killed a 23-year-old man, a second driver, 24, was hospitalized after a witness said he crashed into the same utility pole, downing the pole and snarling traffic in the
KAILUA-KONA — Less than three weeks after a crash in Honalo killed a 23-year-old man, a second driver, 24, was hospitalized after a witness said he crashed into the same utility pole, downing the pole and snarling traffic in the area.
The man has since been treated for injuries and arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Tuesday’s crash occurred near the junction of Routes 11 and 180 near Teshima Restaurant.
Route 180, Old Mamalahoa Highway, is the road that runs from Palani Road through Holualoa. It joins with Route 11, which comes up from Kailua-Kona, at a single-stop-sign junction near Honalo.
Following the crash, police closed the junction at St. Paul Road near Teshima Restaurant and advised motorists to avoid the area. Motorists driving northbound toward Kailua-Kona were redirected south toward Halekii Street to the Mamalahoa Bypass Road.
Police also closed Route 180, redirecting traffic down Kamehameha III Road.
The closures caused major traffic along the Bypass Road. Driving the length of the road from Halekii Street to Kamehameha III Road, roughly 4 1/2 miles, took a West Hawaii Today reporter an hour.
Jordyn Lungo, who lives near the site of the crash, said he was in bed when he heard the crash at about 12:30 Tuesday morning. He said he’s familiar with the dangerous junction and that tire screeches and close calls aren’t uncommon.
After hearing the crash, he said, he went out to the road with his partner.
“Our natural reaction is to go up and investigate,” he said.
Outside, he said, he saw a blue Dodge Charger had crashed into a utility pole on the mauka side of the road.
“It was a direct hit in the middle of the vehicle,” he said.
The vehicle, he said, appeared to have been traveling southbound but crossed over the northbound lanes and struck the pole. He saw flames underneath the engine compartment and embers falling to the ground. His partner ran back into the house to grab a fire extinguisher from the kitchen.
When he got to the car, Lungo said, he had to move several lava rocks from the side of the car to be able to get the door open. As smoke began to fill the cabin, Lungo’s partner “blasted the fire extinguisher.”
Another man arrived on the scene to help get the driver out of the car.
Inside the car, the dashboard and steering wheel appeared to have been pushed about 8 or 9 inches toward the driver.
“In the nick of time, his side of the car was totally engulfed in flames,” Lungo said.
The driver was conscious, he said, and appeared to suffer injuries to his left wrist, arm and leg.
The whole rescue happened in just 15 minutes.
As the flames grew, Lungo said, the pole caught fire.
“The whole entire telephone pole was lit,” he said.
Others on the scene called 911, he said.
Lungo has lived in the area for two years, but recent crashes, he said, are “the worst it’s ever been.”
In addition to several fender benders, he’s also witnessed other serious crashes.
On Oct. 2, Jackson Mathers, 23, died after failing to negotiate a turn in a 2013 Subaru he was driving southbound along Route 11, causing the vehicle to run off the roadway and collide with a utility pole, said police.
Lungo said it was the same pole the other motorist struck Tuesday morning.
Then last weekend, he said, a motorist driving a Scion overcorrected and crashed in the same area. The car, Lungo said, was totaled and the driver fled.
Lungo said the way drivers operate on the road and the dangerous conditions make it a risky place.
Plus, he said, given foot traffic in the area, a crash involving a pedestrian is a real possibility.
“The way people fly through here, it wouldn’t surprise me if one happened very soon,” he said.
He added that the danger is highlighted for cars going northbound during high-traffic periods but more dangerous for southbound drivers during the night.
Traffic along Route 11 was closed for much of the morning.
Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday police issued a release saying lanes had been reopened for traffic going in both directions.
