HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
OFFICER SAMUEL V. JELSMA
PHONE: 961-2332
APRIL 10, 2001
G-63903
MEDIA RELEASE
A Waimea man died Tuesday afternoon (April 10, 2001) after a tractor-trailer he was operating struck a guardrail and overturned on Waikoloa Road near the seven-mile marker in south Kohala.
The victim was identified as Ernest K. Kinney Jr., 70, of a Kamuela address.
Responding to an 8:42 a.m. call, police officers determined that the victim was operating a 1993 Peterbuilt tractor with a 13,660-ton loading trainer attached heading down (west) on Waikoloa Road when he lost control of the truck. The semi ran off the right shoulder of the road, colliding with a guardrail and overturning on its right side, and continued to slide down the road on its side until it righted itself. During the accident, the victim was ejected from the truck. He had not been wearing a seatbelt at the time.
Rescue personnel transported the victim to North Hawaii Community Hospital, where he later died as a result of injuries he sustained in the crash. He was pronounced dead at 12:56 p.m.
The tractor-trailer had been loaded with sand at the time, and the crash caused a closure of the upper portion of Waikoloa Road for about two hours.
Traffic Enforcement Unit officers are continuing an investigation of the crash, and an autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.
This was the seventh traffic-related fatality so far this year, compared to nine at the same time last year.
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