Two Hospitalized After Crash on Molokaʻi’s Mauna Loa Hwy

Maui police crime graphic by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Two Molokaʻi residents are hospitalized following a near-fatal single-vehicle accident involving an overturned pickup truck on the Mauna Loa Highway on Thursday morning, May 8, 2014.

An 86-year-old Kaluakoʻi man, who was a passenger, was medevaced to the Maui Memorial Medical Center and was last listed in critical condition; and the 86-year-old female driver, also of Kaluakoʻi, was initially transported to the Molokaʻi General Hospital in stable condition, but was later airlifted to Queens Medical Center on Oʻahu for further treatment, according to police.

The incident was reported at 6:39 a.m. on the Mauna Loa Highway, about 0.08 miles east of Kaluakoʻi Road in Mauna Loa.

According to police reports, a preliminary investigation indicates that the truck was traveling east on the highway when it went left of center and collided with a guardrail on the north shoulder of the roadway.

After striking the guardrail, the vehicle then continued in a southeasterly direction to the south shoulder of the road, climbed an embankment, and flipped onto its roof, pinning the two occupants within, according to a report filed by Sergeant Jamie Winfrey with the Molokaʻi Patrol Division.

Police say it is unknown if speed, drugs, or alcohol were involved, as the accident remains under investigation.