Negligent driving often leads to motor vehicle accidents in Hawaii. Known as one of the tourist capitals of the world, the beautiful scenery becomes tainted when reckless drivers crash their cars and cause serious injuries to others. It is always tragic when a person failing to obey traffic laws causes an accident that takes the life of an innocent victim.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, an 86-year-old woman was riding as a passenger in her 54-year-old daughter-in-law’s car. As they were traveling, another vehicle suddenly moved into their lane from traffic heading in the opposite direction. The vehicle smashed into their vehicle head-on. It was later reported that the 26-year-old driver of the other vehicle was attempting to pass a car in his original lane of traffic.
The woman’s daughter-in-law suffered a leg injury in the crash. Sadly, the elderly woman succumbed to her own injuries after being transported to a hospital for emergency care. The driver that appears to have caused the tragic accident also died. Another vehicle was struck after the initial impact of the first collision, but the driver was not injured. A sergeant from the local police department stated that the road was closed to traffic while an on-scene investigation took place.
The incident renewed an ongoing debate in Puna where some have repeatedly requested that an alternate route bypass be built to help with traffic flow. In similar situations in Hawaii, negligent or reckless drivers can typically be held accountable for their actions when they have caused an accident that results in a fatality. The amount of traffic on the road at the time is not relevant to a person’s choice to act with abandon behind the wheel of a car. In circumstances where the responsible party has also died, a legal claim can filed against that person’s estate.
Source: hawaiinewsnow.com, “Victims identified in fatal crash on Big Island“, Dec. 29, 2015