Driver crashes, dies as he flees earlier accident

A Mililani area man who apparently sped away from the scene of a minor car accident on Kamehameha Highway on Thursday afternoon was killed when the SUV he was driving subsequently slammed into a vehicle parked about 2 miles down the highway in a road construction area.

A worker seated in the flatbed of a GP Roadway Solutions truck was severely injured in the crash, which occurred shortly after 3 p.m. at the highway’s intersection with Waikalani Drive. Paramedics treated the worker and transported him in critical condition to a hospital, according to an Emergency Medical Services report.

Shortly before the crash in the Waipio Acres area, the sport utility vehicle had rear-ended a pickup truck on the highway near Higgins Road, said Honolulu police Lt. Carlene Lau.

Initially, both vehicles pulled to the side of the roadway. But the SUV’s driver, a man in his 60s, quickly pulled back onto the highway.

The pickup’s driver, along with a third driver who had witnessed the collision, followed the fleeing SUV and later told police that the vehicle was traveling at about 70 mph in an area with a posted speed limit of 35 mph. The high speed persuaded the other drivers to stop their pursuit, Lau said.

The SUV apparently sped into a coned area and then struck the GP Roadway Solutions truck.

The worker seated in the truck’s flatbed, a man in his 30s, suffered severe leg injuries in the crash, Lau said. His legs may have been dangling off the back of the flatbed, police said.

The SUV’s driver died at the scene, according to an EMS report. He was not wearing a seat belt, police said.

There were no passengers in the SUV.