Maui police reported a head-on collision occurred early this morning on Hansen Road, just about 0.2 miles northeast of Pulehu Road in Kahului, sending one man to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition.

Police said the near-fatal collision occurred at about 5:41 a.m. today, when a 41-year-old man driving a white, Ford pick-up truck southwest on Hansen Road crossed the centerline and collided head on into a green Infiniti SUV driven by a 59-year-old man in the other direction.

Neither driver was wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision.

The 59-year-old sustained critical, life-threatening injuries and was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center. The Ford driver was seen by medics, but refused transport. Maui police eventually took him to Maui Memorial for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Based on a preliminary investigation, speed is suspected as a factor in the crash, but it remains unknown whether drugs or alcohol were factors, as well.

Maui police said the county has recorded six traffic-related fatalities so far this year, compared to 22 at the same time last year.