Alameda asks state help after deadly Hawaii Island crash surge

Hawaii Island’s deadly crash surge pushed Mayor Kimo Alameda to ask Gov. Josh Green for help, after the county reached 13 traffic fatalities in 2026, including eight in just the previous two weeks. Alameda said the situation had become a public safety emergency, and he moved quickly after a pair of recent double-fatal crashes on Daniel K. Inouye Highway, also known as Saddle Road, shook the island.

In a letter sent Monday, Alameda asked the state to help with urgent messaging, enforcement, engineering and education efforts. His list included solar-powered radar signs, stronger warning signs near crash hot spots, inspections and possible repairs to drainage and pavement conditions in certain mileage ranges on DKI Highway, signs telling slower vehicles to keep right, marked turnouts for slower traffic, and rumble strips and reflective delineators in dangerous stretches until permanent improvements can be made.

The concern was driven by how fast the toll climbed. Hawaii Island had 10 traffic fatalities as of May 16, then 12 by May 19, and 13 by Tuesday. Hawaii Police Department said the May 15 crash near the 13-mile marker killed two people and was the second double-fatal collision on DKI Highway within 10 days. In the earlier May 5 head-on crash near the same mile marker, police identified one of the victims as 34-year-old Zachery Winston of Newport News, Virginia.

The mayor’s appeal also pointed to the death of Dr. Judith Fitzgerald, the 74-year-old Hilo Benioff Medical Center emergency room and urgent care physician killed in a Christmas Eve 2025 head-on collision on DKI Highway. Police said speed, alcohol and/or drugs, and reckless driving were believed to be the primary factors in that crash, a reminder that the road’s dangers have already been documented in a tragedy the island knows well.

State officials had already acted on part of the corridor. The Hawaii Department of Transportation announced in August 2024 that sections of Daniel K. Inouye Highway between mile posts 16.5 and 17.5 and between 23.5 and 26.1 would become no-passing zones. Alameda said he also convened police and fire leadership and other county leaders to identify near-term and longer-term safety measures, and he joined Police Chief Reed Mahuna, Temporary Fire Chief Daniel Volpe and Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen in a 60-second public service video urging motorists to “drive safe and make it home.”