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Hawaii County police said today that a 90-year-old Kailua-Kona woman died Thursday after losing control of the car she was driving, crossing the center line on Mamalahoa Highway and hitting a stone wall.
The victim was identified as Jane K. Ota. She died at Kona Community Hospital where she was taken following the 2:30 p.m. accident on Mamalahoa Highway or Route 190 and the junction with Kalaoa Street in Kailua-Kona.
Ota was driving a 1999 Ford Escort four-door sedan and was heading south between the 32- and 33-mile markers.
Police said as she approached the junction with Kalaoa Street, she lost control and veered across the centerline onto the northbound shoulder and collided with a rock embankment, causing the vehicle to roll onto its roof.
Police do not believe that alcohol, drugs or speed were factors in this collision.
Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to call Officer Justin Hooser at 326-4646 extension 229.
This is the ninth traffic fatality this year in Hawaii County, compared with 21 at this time last year, police said.
