Hawaii law relies upon a family member actually witnessing an accident as the primary factor in triggering separate "per person" limits for emotional distress claims by a bystander to a catastrophic accident. Without that proximity, a family member's emotional distress claim is considered a derivative claim and is apparently limited to the same insurance policy limits (BI, UM or UIM) that apply to the injured person's claim. In the recent case of Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Dennison, (Haw Sup. Ct. No. 24975) (October 11, 2005) this bystander requirement was held to preclude a separate insurance policy limit for the ED claims of a father who came upon his son's accident scene within minutes and actually saw his son being wheeled away on a stretcher to a medivac helicopter.
On March 17, 2026, at a little after 7 am, a fatal motor vehicle accident occurred on Vineyard Blvd in the Liliha area. For unknown reasons, a 59-year-old city bus driver lost control of his bus, traveled onto the center median, and collided directly into a tree. The driver was critically injured in spite of wearing his seatbelt. The bus was not carrying any passengers at the time of the accident. Later on the same day, the bus driver succumbed to his injuries. The cause of the crash continues to be under investigation. HPD states that this was the 12th Traffic Fatality on Oahu so far in 2026. Man, 59, dead following bus vs. tree crash .
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