Trash truck fatality is third in 12 months

Honolulu resident Barbara Kato — who died after being run over by a city garbage truck Thursday in Kalihi — was the third person on Oahu killed by a garbage truck in just over a year.

The other two incidents involved a city garbage truck and a privately owned garbage truck.

Kato, 70, was struck while using a crosswalk at Gulick Avenue and North King Street, just half a block from where another pedestrian was killed earlier this month.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office identified Kato and said an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.

The driver, a 57-year-old woman, was heading Diamond Head on North King Street at about 5:50 a.m. when she made a left turn onto Gulick and hit Kato, police said.

Kato was taken in critical condition to the Queen’s Medical Center, where she died.

She was obeying the traffic signals in the intersection at the time, said police Lt. Robert Towne.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell said in a statement that the city will cooperate in the investigation. "I was deeply saddened to hear about this tragic accident and want to extend our heartfelt sympathy to the victim’s family," he added.

Markus Owens, spokes­man for the city Department of Environmental Services, which handles the city’s garbage, said employee information about the driver cannot be released because it is protected by state public-records law. He said the employee is a ref­use equipment operator, but did not say how long she has worked for the department.

The department employs about 120 to 140 drivers and operates a safe-driving program, Owens said.

The department’s data on incidents involving garbage trucks were not immediately available.

In March, Margaret Kim, 88, was killed by a Rolloffs Hawaii truck that was backing up in Nuu­anu. And in February 2013, Pauline Ando, 83, was killed by a city garbage truck that was backing up in Aiea.

In another incident, Paula Harris sued the city in August 2012, claiming she lost her right foot when a city garbage truck ran over it as she crossed Vineyard Boulevard.

People who live or work near the Kalihi intersection where Kato was struck have complained that the intersection is too dangerous for pedestrians and that drivers often speed on the stretch of roadway, which has a 25 mph speed limit and is not well lit after dark. Leizel Pasi, an employee at Kalihi Super Meats, said she saw another crash in the same intersection about a month ago.

On Feb. 4, Clarita Ocol, 67, was struck by a pickup while in a crosswalk on North King Street between Gulick Avenue and Mokauea Street.

The impact knocked Ocol out of her shoes and threw her body more than 20 feet. Ocol died at the Queen’s Medical Center, and police opened a negligent-homicide investigation. Police said she was struck by a truck driven by a man in his 40s. The road was wet from rain at the time, and visibility may have been a factor.