KALIHI, Oahu (KHON2) — A 58-year-old woman was killed Monday evening, Sept. 22, after she was walking in a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Kokea and North School Street.
The unidentified male motorist fled the scene.
The area by the intersection is home to a variety of things, including houses, a bus stop, a 21 Mart, ongoing construction and a pedestrian crossing.
Following Monday’s accident, people are urging for changes to be made in that area.
“I’ve been here about 20 years, and I’ve noticed the changes in the community, and there’s no stop sign. There’s no speed limit signs on School Street necessarily that makes any difference. People drive fast in this neighborhood,” said Donald Guerrero, a resident of a nearby kupuna building.
Guerrero often uses a wheelchair to get around and has had difficulty with the area throughout his life. “They don’t necessarily stop for you when you’re in the crosswalk. They just keep driving by. You’ve got to motion them to stop or slow down for them to do something considerate. Because they don’t care,” he said.
“A few seconds saved is never worth a life loss,” said Simeone Rojas, member of Kalihi Valley Neighborhood Board. “We’re addressing a lot of things that’s happening to make our street safer. We request for speed humps, raised crosswalks and better lightings and visibility.”
Rojas also pointed out that the neon pedestrian sign by the intersection of the accident wasn’t very visible to some drivers, being obscured by another sign.
Rojas is also a longtime Kalihi resident, and shared a similar sentiment of accidents not being unheard of in that area.
“If you’re not going to take this street right here, people are speeding here, so it’s very important that you stay within the speed limit, or we go under the speed limit to be safer for everyone,” said Rojas. “Again, when I was growing up here, I did experience accidents. I heard death a long time ago. There’s many accidents that had happened here.”
“I hope that we can prioritize the North School street area again,” said Honolulu City Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, who represents portions of Kalihi and Kalihi Valley. “We’ve got the flashing beacons at School Street and Ahonui, we’ve gotten some speed bumps in other areas like the one in Nu’uanu Avenue and up in Papakolea, but again, all of these areas where accidents are happening, where people are speeding, certainly should be looked at in a serious way for more interventions.”
This is now Oahu’s 63rd traffic fatality of the year, compared to 31 at the same time in 2024.
“We’ve known that School Street has always been a hazardous area, and very congested,” said Dos Santos-Tam. “So I hope that we can take a serious look at it moving forward and actually getting some of these crosswalks, beacons and other things in sooner rather than later.”
The male motorist involved in the collision has yet to be identified, and anyone with information is asked to contact Honolulu Police Department, Traffic Division at (808)-723-3413.