Near-Fatal Accident on Haleakalā Highway, Pukalani 

Maui Now graphic.

An 83-year-old man from Albuquerque, New Mexico suffered critical, life-threatening injuries in a motor vehicle accident on the Haleakalā Highway on Tuesday afternoon.

The incident was reported at around 1:13 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017, on Haleakalā Highway at the Old Haleakalā Highway intersection in Pukalani.

A preliminary police investigation revealed a silver 2017 Nissan four-door sedan was traveling mauka-bound on Haleakalā Highway when it crossed left of center and collided into a 2013 Kenworth dump truck that was traveling in the opposite direction.  The dump truck then left the roadway and came to rest on the grass shoulder of the highway.  Police say the Nissan sedan remained on the roadway and blocked both lanes of travel with the driver trapped inside.

Emergency crews were able to extract the driver and transported him to the emergency room for treatment of what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries, but his condition was down-graded to critical and life threatening after transport.  Police say the driver of the dump truck suffered a very minor injury and was released at the scene.

The roadway was closed at the intersection and traffic was re-routed for about an hour and a half as police investigated.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.