Motorcyclist dies in crash with dump truck on Highway 130 in Puna

A man thought to be in his 30s or 40s is dead after the motorcycle he was riding Monday struck a dump truck on Highway 130, just south of the Pāhoa Police Station in Puna.

He is the second man to die in a crash involving a motorcycle on a Puna highway during 2 consecutive days this week.

Hawai‘i Island police continue to investigate both collisions.

The Feb. 3 crash happened at about 3:30 p.m. less than half a mile outside Pāhoa.

Police learned upon arriving at the scene that a Pāhoa-bound motorcycle that was traveling south on Highway 130, also known as Kea‘au-Pahoa Road, started passing multiple vehicles on the west shoulder and collided with a 2020 Peterbilt dump truck turning right, off of the highway, into a driveway in the 15-2600 block of Kea‘au-Pāhoa Road.

Multiple witnesses were interviewed at the scene.

The man riding the motorcycle was unresponsive at the scene and transported to Hilo Benioff Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:23 p.m.

An autopsy was ordered to determine his exact cause of death. Police think speed and alcohol and/or drugs are possible factors in the collision. The motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet.

A 67-year-old Hilo man driving the dump truck was uninjured.

The motorcyclist’s identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Personnel with the Hawai‘i Police Department East Hawai‘i Traffic Enforcement Unit responded to the scene and the investigation is ongoing.

Police also continue to investigate a Feb. 2 crash in Kea‘au that killed a 32-year-old Puna man when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a sedan.

Anyone with additional information about the Feb. 3 crash is encouraged to contact Officer Jerome Duarte at 808-961-2339 or via email at Jerome.Duarte@hawaiicounty.gov.

Those who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 808-961-8300.

The Pāhoa crash is the fifth traffic fatality of 2025 on the Big Island, one more than the 4 recorded by this time last year.