Man who died in tractor-trailer crash identified

A 23-year-old Big Island man died Wednesday at the Queen’s Medical Center, where he was taken after the car he was driving was hit by tractor-trailer last month in Hamakua.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death for Michael T. Moore, of Laupahoehoe, Hawaii County Police said in a news release.

Moore was driving south on the Hawaii Belt Road near the 23-mile marker  June 19 when a Toyota pickup truck, also traveling south, crossed the centerline and sideswiped a tractor-trailer traveling north, causing the tractor-trailer to cross into the southbound lane and collide with Moore’s car.

The two other drivers, a passenger in Moore’s car and a passenger in the tractor-trailer, were treated for their injuries and released.

The case has been reclassified as a negligent homicide investigation.

This is Hawaii County’s 13th fatality this year compared with seven at this time last year.