A Kaneohe woman on roller skates whooped while hurtling downhill Tuesday before fatally crashing into a moving sedan in Makakilo.
The woman appeared "exhilarated" before the crash, said Brian Ansorge. "I saw her go by like she was flying."
Ansorge was caulking the side of his girlfriend’s house on Kikaha Street when he heard the woman shout, "Woohoo!" He looked in time to see the woman zoom by at about 25 mph with her arms outstretched.
"She was having a good time," said Ansorge, who was working on the third house from the intersection of Kikaha Street and Makakilo Drive, where the crash occurred. He didn’t realize the woman crashed until someone walking up the steep road said there had been an accident.
Ansorge said he heard a witness tell police the woman apparently tried to stop about 50 feet from the intersection and panicked.
Police said the woman, 27, was roller-skating downhill in the middle of Kikaha Street when she entered the Kapolei-bound lane of Makakilo Drive and struck the sedan at about 10:35 a.m.
She sustained massive head and internal injuries and died at the scene, police said.
Police Lt. Carlene Lau said the woman was traveling "very fast" when she tried to make a right turn onto Makakilo Drive, appeared to be out of control and falling, and crashed into the BMW’s passenger side.
The woman, who was not immediately identified, was not wearing a helmet and appeared to be skating alone, Lau said.
Lau encouraged drivers and pedestrians to be safe by slowing down and watching out for other cars and pedestrians.
She said speed was not a factor on the part of the 54-year-old Makakilo woman driving the BMW.
Police closed Makakilo Drive for about 21⁄2 hours to investigate the accident.
While roller-skating traffic deaths are uncommon on Oahu, skaters should wear helmets and stay off the street, Lau said.
A city ordinance makes it illegal to ride roller skates, a skateboard or toy vehicles on any roadway except while crossing a street. A violation can result in a $25 fine.
Jen Lum, president of the Aloha City Rollers roller derby league, said members from all three of Oahu’s roller derby leagues were calling one another Tuesday, trying to determine whether the victim had been associated with a league. All the leagues are for women.
"We’re a little bit panicked," she said.
Shana Valenzuela of the Rainbow Revolution Roller Girls roller derby league said roller skating’s popularity is growing on Oahu. The island’s first roller derby league formed about seven years ago. There are now about 100 participants in three leagues.
The crash was classified as a pedestrian death. It marks Oahu’s third traffic fatality and second pedestrian death this year.
