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Speed appears to be a factor in two Maui crashes that killed the drivers Sunday night and Monday morning, police said.
The use of a mobile electronic device was also suspected in the crash that killed a 25-year-old man in Kihei early Monday morning. Police said the driver of a 2004 Nissan lost control of his vehicle on Piilani Highway near Liopa Street, crossed the centerline and rolled over on the shoulder of the highway at about 3 a.m.
The driver, identified as Terrance Kyle Morgan of Kihei, died at the scene.
A 21-year-old Kihei man, a passenger in the Nissan, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Police said Morgan was not wearing a seat belt and that the vehicle’s airbags deployed during the crash. His passenger was wearing a seat belt.
In the second crash a 30-year-old man was killed Sunday night in Paia, police said.
Police identified the victim as Kawika Kahakauwila of Paia.
Kahakauwila was driving a black 1996 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck west on Baldwin Avenue when he lost control of the truck and crashed into a tree at 9:26 p.m., police said.
Kahakauwila was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, and the vehicle’s air bags did not deploy, police said.
The deaths marked the 11th and 12th traffic fatalities on Maui this year, compared with eight at the same time last year.
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