A 54-year-old female jogger who might have been trying to avoid a car accident near Wailupe Beach Park was hit by two vehicles and killed while in a marked crosswalk on Kalanianaole Highway on Friday morning.
Police Lt. Carlene Lau, a Traffic Division spokeswoman, said the chain of events began at 5:45 a.m. at Waa Street and Kalanianaole Highway when a 19-year-old woman driving a Scion traveling Koko Head on Kalanianaole rear-ended a parked car.
Twenty minutes later the jogger crossed Kalanianaole from the makai side apparently to avoid the two damaged vehicles, Lau said.
The jogger entered a marked crosswalk fronting 5005 Kalanianaole Highway and was hit by a red Nissan Leaf, driven by a woman in her 30s from Hawaii Kai, traveling in the contra-flow lane heading town-bound.
The impact threw the jogger into an adjacent eastbound lane, and she was run over by a Chevy truck driven by a man from Haleiwa, Lau said.
The woman died at 6:30 a.m. at the scene, Emergency Medical Services reported.
Paramedics treated the Scion driver at the scene of the first accident and took her in serious condition to a hospital.
Police closed Koko Head-bound lanes between Waa and Kaai streets following the fatal accident and reopened the lanes just before 8:30 a.m.
The contra-flow HOV lane going to town was also closed, causing a major traffic snarl for East Oahu commuters.
A family living at the makai end of the crosswalk heard the accident. "My mom and I woke up and heard a big bang," Alana Chang, 12, said. "We saw a shoe on the road," and something wrapped in plastic.
She added that they heard the screeching of cars.
Her grandfather, who asked not to be named, said he heard a thud. "It’s not the first time," he added. "There’s been other people who were in the crosswalk" when they were struck, he said. "It’s tragic that happens. At least once a week we’re going to have an auto accident."
One solution was suggested by his 7-year-old granddaughter Nohea Chang, who said, "There’s a lot of traffic. I want to put a traffic light."
There are no stoplights for several hundred feet in either direction, but the Changs’ grandfather said he doubts the state would ever consider installing a stoplight.
The streetlight nearby isn’t working properly, though the family has reported it numerous times, and the area may be too dark for cars to see a pedestrian at that hour, he said.
"Generally, there’s a lot of joggers and bicyclists, and it takes a lot of caution," he said. The family does not allow the children to cross the highway.
The jogger’s death marks Oahu’s 29th traffic fatality this year, compared with 28 at the same time last year.
Friday afternoon the Medical Examiner’s Office said the woman had been tentatively identified, but positive identification had not been made.
Dr. Jack Scaff, founder of the Marathon Clinic, said, "Runners should carry identification."
Without it, he said, "It’s the equivalent of driving without a license or ID."
Years ago Scaff, a medical doctor, was conducting a marathon clinic at Kapiolani Park when he was called by first responders to Diamond Head, where they had a John Doe, who was brain dead.
Scaff said the man’s wife found him by calling every emergency room and asking whether they had a John Doe.
Scaff said an ID could be kept in a fanny pack, or a medical identity bracelet could be tied to a shoelace.
He recommends using a smartphone app called ICE, which stands for "in case of emergency" and stores information for first responders and hospital staff. It includes a list of people to call, insurance information, doctors, medical conditions and medications.
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CORRECTION: The victim was reported as a 70-year-old woman in a previous version of this story. She was 54-years-old when she died.
