1 Dead in Multiple Vehicle Honoapiʻilani Crash

Maui police respond to a traffic accident at around 11:23 a.m. that forced the closure of the Honoapiʻilani Highway in both directions. Photo courtesy: Kevin Bass.

By Wendy Osher

One man is dead, and two other individuals were injured in a multiple vehicle crash reported at 11:11 a.m. Thursday, May 9, on the Honoapiʻilani Highway (30) in Ukumehame, police said.

Police have since identified the man as Robert Keith Adams, 66, who authorities say died at the scene.  According to police, the crash occurred west of the highway tunnel near Papalaua Wayside Park.

According to police reports, Adams was operating a white 1998 Ford Explorer that was headed west-bound (toward Lahaina), when he crossed the dashed yellow line, collided into the left front-end of a 2012 maroon Chrysler sedan headed in the opposite direction.  Police say the Explorer Adams was driving then crashed into a large kiawe tree before it came to rest in the east-bound (Kahului-bound) lane of travel.

The Chrysler, police say, rotated counter-clockwise and came to rest facing northwest on the Kahului-bound shoulder of the roadway.  The occupants , two men in their 80s from La Jolla, California, were transported to the Maui Memorial Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, according to police reports.

After the initial collision, police say a white 2012 Ford Focus four door sedan, traveling behind the Chrysler, swerved left into the west-bound lane, and came into contact with airborne debris from the collision.  Police say the Focus left the roadway and stopped in the east-bound shoulder.  The occupants of the Focus were uninjured in the crash, police said.

Maui Police Officer, Lawrence Becraft from the department’s Traffic Division filed a report in which he notes that all occupants of all three vehicles were using their seatbelts.

He reports that the involvement of speed, drugs and alcohol remain under investigation as they look into what could have caused the crash.

The traffic fatality was the 6th on Maui County roads this year compared to 11 at the same time last year.  It is the second fatality reported on the Honoapiʻilani Highway this week.