Less than 50 feet from where a bouquet of flowers sits in front of Kauai Community Correctional Center in remembrance of Kaua‘i’s most recent traffic fatality, three cars were involved in an accident yesterday that killed a 72-year-old woman from
Less than 50 feet from where a bouquet of flowers sits in front of Kauai Community Correctional Center in remembrance of Kaua‘i’s most recent traffic fatality, three cars were involved in an accident yesterday that killed a 72-year-old woman from Indiana.
Traffic was snarled from downtown Lihu‘e through Kapa‘a as a section of Kuhio Highway was closed for an hour and a half.
Kaua‘i Police Department officials are still investigating Kaua‘i’s fifth traffic fatality of 2004, equaling the number of traffic fatalities in all of 2003, said Cyndi Mei Ozaki, county public information officer.
Three Honda sedans were involved in the accident, which occurred at about 1:45 p.m.
A red 1990 Honda two-door sedan, driven by a 47-year-old Koloa man and carrying two passengers, was making a left turn from Kuhio Highway into the Wailua Golf Course parking lot.
The red Honda was hit by a northbound gray, 1999 Honda four-door sedan, driven by an 18-year-old Anahola woman.
The front-seat passenger of the red Honda, 72-year-old Joan Grissom of Indiana, was ejected upon impact.
She was then hit by a black 2002 Honda two-door coupe driven by a 22-year-old Hanalei man and also traveling north, carrying one passenger.
Grissom was pronounced dead at the scene, said Ozaki.
It was unknown, pending the results of the investigation, whether Grissom or any other accident victims were wearing seat belts, Ozaki said.
The driver and back-seat passenger of the red Honda were transported to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition, said Ozaki.
The driver of the gray Honda was also transported to Wilcox Memorial Hospital and listed in stable condition. The driver and passenger of the black Honda were not injured, she continued.
At nearly the same spot less than a week earlier, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, Amy Tamura, 78, of Lihu‘e, died from injuries she sustained while making a left turn into KCCC in her Dodge station wagon from northbound lanes.
The stretch of Kuhio Highway between Hanama‘ulu and Wailua has been dubbed “blood alley” by some motorists because of the high speeds motorists travel at along that road, and the lack of avenues of escape from vehicular danger especially in the single southbound lane.
In what has become county officials’ catch-phrase in announcing traffic fatalities this year, “the Kaua‘i Police Department urges the driving public to drive attentively, observe all traffic laws, and always were your seat belt,” Ozaki stated.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mailto:tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
