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The Maui News
A 20-year-old Kula man was killed early Tuesday morning when his car hit an embankment and rolled into a utility pole on Pulehu Road, Maui police said.
The accident was reported at 6:18 a.m. on Pulehu Road, just south of Omaopio Road in Kula.
Police said the man was driving a 2004 Honda CR-V southbound on Pulehu Road and attempting to negotiate a right curve in the roadway, when the vehicle lost control and crossed the center line onto the opposing shoulder. The vehicle then traveled back into the southbound lane but overcorrected and again crossed left of the centerline, striking a dirt embankment on the opposing shoulder. The embankment caused the vehicle to flip and roll into a large metal utility pole, where the driver was partially ejected from the vehicle.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Police identified the man as 20-year-old Mau Loa Pacheco of Kula.
The involvement of speed, drugs and alcohol is still pending investigation.
The incident is Maui County's first traffic fatality of the new year.