HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
ACTING SERGEANT MARTIN B. ELLAZAR
PHONE: 961-2332
MARCH 11, 1999
F-88105
MEDIA RELEASE
An 88-year-old woman died in a two-car collision Thursday morning (March 11, 1999) on Palani Road in Kailua-Kona.
The victim, identified as Viola Withenshaw, of Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, Ka’u, was pronounced dead at 7:38 a.m. at Kona Community Hospital.
The driver of the second car, identified as Margaret Park, 35, of Kailua-Kona, was not injured in the collision.
Withenshaw was driving a 1979 two-door Mazda west, or makai, on Palani Road about 6:38 a.m. when her car turned into the path of Park’s oncoming 1993 Chevrolet Suburban as she tried to turn left onto Henry Street.
Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have initiated a standard negligent homicide investigation into the accident and are continuing the investigation. They have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of the victim’s death.
Withenshaw’s death is the third fatality on the Big Island so far this year, compared to eight at the same time last year.
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