“Coming down, it can be a little treacherous, especially for folks who are riding these tour bikes who haven’t been on a bike for many, many years and they could lose control.”
KULA, Hawaii (KHON2) — A 68-year-old bicyclist is dead after being struck head-on by a vehicle on Haleakala Highway on Friday, Oct. 18.
Police said the man was going downhill with a group, crossed the double solid line and crashed into an oncoming vehicle.
The collision happened south of Mile Marker 6 in Kula, former Maui County councilmember Mike Molina said it is not a road for beginners.
“Coming down, it can be a little treacherous, especially for folks who are riding these tour bikes who haven’t been on a bike for many, many years and they could lose control,” Molina said.
Police said the bicyclist was wearing a helmet at the time and traveling downhill before he crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a vehicle that was heading up the mountain. Experienced riders like Hawaii Bicycling League executive director Travis Counsell said all of the safety equipment in the world would not have saved his life.
“I mean, gravity’s certainly in your favor there. You can, you can get going faster than you probably should on a bicycle,” Counsell said. “This is a cautionary tale for visitors that, you know, a Hawaiian vacation is great, but there’s still dangers and challenges that you have to watch out for.”
Molina spearheaded a law that went into effect in 2023 that requires bike tour companies to keep groups to 10 customers with riders having to be at least 15 years old and tours are only allowed between Mile Markers 3 and 9.5 on Haleakala Highway.
“It’s helped. But unfortunately, sometimes things fall through the cracks, which requires, in my opinion, government having a second look at this legislation,” Molina said. “There’s been some in the community who want an outright ban on this type of industry operating on the road.”
“I think that’s a very tragic situation, not something the community or the family or anybody ever wants to deal with. and our condolences go out there,” Counsell said. “this is a highlighted need for increased safety in that regard, but crashes do happen. Hopefully, we can work to avoid them in the future.”
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This is Maui County’s 12th traffic fatality of 2024 compared to 16 at the same time in 2023.
The last bicyclist death on Haleakala Highway was in 2014, there were two serious bicycle accidents since then that involved tour participants — one in 2020 and the other in 2021.