The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office identified a 48-year-old man who died Sunday afternoon in a motorcycle accident in Waimanalo as Benedict Tabar of Pukalani, Maui.
Police said Tabar was riding on Waikupanaha Street Mooiki Street when the motorcycle he was operating veered into the right shoulder and into a fire hydrant.
He was taken in critical condition to the Queen’s Medical Center, where he died of head injuries.
Police said Tabar was speeding and was not wearing a helmet.
He was one of three people who died in three accidents involving motorcycles Sunday on Oahu.
Just after 2 p.m., police were called to the scene of an accident on the H-1 freeway near the Hickam offramp.
According to witnesses and police, a Mercedes sedan had pulled over to the side of the east-bound side of the highway, and a man and woman, both in their 40s or 50s, were attempting to repair a flat tire.
As they were doing this, an oncoming silver car clipped a motorcycle, sending it out of control.
The motorcycle operator hit the back of the Mercedes while his motorcycle continued on, striking the man and woman who were attempting to fix the tire.
The man struck by the motorcycle was taken in critical condition to Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center, where he later died. The woman and the operator of the motorcycle, a man in his 20s or 30s, were both taken in serious condition to the Queen’s Medical Center. The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet, according to police.
The driver of the silver car, of unknown make or model, fled the scene, police said.
At about 6:25 p.m., emergency personnel were sent to the Nuuanu Pali Drive for the third fatal motorcycle accident of the day.
A 67-year-old man was killed when the motorcycle he was driving crashed into a rock wall. Police said he was speeding and failed to negotiate a bend to the right about two miles south of Pali Highway. He died at the scene. He was not wearing a helmet, police said.
The motorcycle burst into flames and was extinguished by Honolulu firefighters.
It was unknown if drugs or alcohol were a factor in any of the three accidents, according to police.
The three deaths bring Oahu’s total road fatalities so far for 2011 to 45, the same number at this time last year, police said.