Dirt bike rider killed in Hilo crash, police investigate speed factor

A male dirt bike rider died late Wednesday night after a collision at West Kawili Street and Kinoole Street in Hilo, a stretch of road where vehicles regularly turn into businesses and parking lots.

Hawaii Island police said the crash happened at 10:24 p.m. when a yellow-and-black Suzuki dirt bike traveling westbound on West Kawili collided with a gray 2012 Nissan Versa sedan. The sedan, driven by a 22-year-old Hilo woman, was heading eastbound and turning into a business parking lot in the 70 block of West Kawili at the time of impact.

The rider was found unresponsive at the scene. Police, fire and medical personnel tried lifesaving measures, but he was pronounced dead at 10:45 p.m. An autopsy has been ordered, and police said his identity was being withheld pending formal identification and notification of next of kin.

The driver and two passengers in the Nissan were taken to Hilo Benioff Medical Center with injuries that police said were not life-threatening.

Investigators said speed is believed to have been a contributing factor. The East Hawaii Traffic Enforcement Unit is continuing the case as a coroner’s inquest investigation.

The deadly crash was the fifth traffic fatality on Hawaii Island in 2026, adding to a year already marked by serious road losses. West Kawili and Kinoole is one of Hilo’s busier east-side corridors, with traffic moving past businesses, parking lots and turning vehicles late into the night, a setting that can make speed and visibility especially dangerous.

Police asked anyone with information to contact Officer Johnathan Rapoza or Crime Stoppers as the investigation continues.