:( Poor man. Those intersections are nuts. Especially around the construction zones now. Anyone else been buzzed by motorbikes on the Queen K shoulder, passing the cars on the right? How about the "nice" drivers who give up the right of way to let someone make a left... right into the path of other traffic which the "nice" driver can't control. Sometimes the cars behind the "nice" driver will try to get around. This is all really common on that road.

"police determined that a bicycle operated by Sakai had been traveling south on the highway when it collided with a 2008 Dodge pickup truck operated by a 41-year-old Kapaau man, which had been traveling west on Keahole Airport Road after the truck had completed his left turn from the highway"

This reads like the blame is on the cyclist, making it sound like the cyclist slammed into the van....
Who writes that crap?

Perhaps the IRONMAN world championship should be somewhere safer.

I'm not even joking.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

Without wishing to cast aspersions on any party, why is this not a possibility?

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

Typically it could be a possibility, but that is doubtful in this case. The rider is a longtime local cyclist and no one living there would run a light at this intersection. During the lead up to Kona there were daily accidents at this intersection. The 2017 Kona Survival guide thread has details.

The intersection is always dangerous. With the new construction underway the highway has gone from two lanes plus turn lanes and acceleration lanes to separated two lanes each direction with turn lanes and accelerations lanes. Signals are temporary and there are temporary barriers and cones everywhere. The temporary traffic control is a shitshow and seems to continuously confuse drivers. Cyclists are distracted because the shoulders have been paved to final lift and are 2 inches higher than the rest of the main road and side road. Just lots going on and traffic is always backed up while many are rushing to and from the airport.

This accident unfolded exactly the way TIm Don was taken out on the QK at the Tesoro driveway closer to Kona - backed up traffic waiving oncoming traffic across the highway in front of a passing cyclist. All that being said, even having the right of way, I can't see myself hitting a car there at speed because I would crawl through that intersection on my bike. When we were over for Ironman week my wife had a friend that was going out on a road bike ride with a group cycling industry reps. She warned them to avoid the construction and shuttle out past the construction. This rider felt that there wouldn't be a problem because they were on road bikes and would be better bike handlers than the tri riders that had been piling up at this airport intersection. Unbelievably he hit a car in exactly the same manner as the rider that was killed this week! Rode into the passenger side of a car that cut him off! This happened after all the warnings and knowing the issues at this location. He was bruised and road rashed with some kind of rotator cuff injury. Dented car door and mirror torn off. So I can say it would never happen to me, but there is some combo there that keeps hurting riders:(

It sounds to me like a factual description of an accident that doesn't imply fault one way or another. If the van was in the intersection first and the bike hit the van, it in no way means the van had the right-of-way to be there in the first place.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

It is the standard police reporting and journalist language in North America. Read any pedestrian or bike vs. car crash report and almost 100% the time the [typically gravely injured or dead, thus unable to tell their side of the story] victim is blamed. Pedestrians and cyclists simply "run into" cars, they appear out of nowhere, they swerve, they are invisible, they are distracted, not wearing high viz, not having blinky lights, not wearing a helmet, not in a marked crossing, etc etc (favorite victim blaming items from police reports). Drivers are almost always absolved of any responsibility. Also, as long as drivers are not under the influence and cooperate and do not leave the scene, they are rarely ever charged or even ticketed.

The report above is actually better than most: it reports in equal terms on both the person on the bike, and the person behind the wheel, as humans. Most reports use the term "car" instead of "driver" to further the impression that the driver is to be absolved of all responsibility.

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

Agree. I don't see much blame inferred in the wording. It just states that the two vehicles collided. The key question is who had the right of way. My condolences to the family and friends of James.

Any news on the trial of Jody Buddemeyer, who was driving a police vehicle that collided with Jeff Surnow on Waikoloa Road in March 2015, killing Surnow? Someone here posted a couple of weeks ago that his trial, which has been delayed a couple of times, was scheduled to begin this week.

The trial was continued to 2/13/2018.

Thanks Craig. The trial, if not continued again, will be nearly 3 years after the incident. Is that normal for Hawaii?

It is quite normal for a traffic crime/investigation/prosecution to take this long.

That's the description of Michael Zellman's crash on the SRAM 6a morning ride. He's as big as a linebacker or powerforward and lucky to limp away relatively uninjured. Scary stuff. We rode to Capt. Cook the rest of the week.

-SD

It's like they took a class on how to dehumanize with words. The write up makes it seems as if it's just 2 objects that collided.

That's exactly how they are trained to write reports. Factually and unemotional. It's then up to the parties, lawyers, courts, insurance companies, etc. to make the arguments.