A 31-year-old Makawao man died after a pickup truck he was driving drifted off the roadway and later collided into the east bank of a canal off of Haleakala Highway early Friday morning, police said.

The man initially sustained life-threatening injuries and was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center where he later succumbed to his injuries and died, police said.

His identity is being withheld for 24 hours to allow his family an opportunity to notify their extended family and friends.

The incident occurred shortly before 4 a.m. at Haleakala Highway, west of Keahua Road near Mile Marker 4.

Preliminary investigation reveals that a blue 2004 Ford F150 pickup truck was traveling east on Haleakala Highway when the Ford drifted right off the roadway and continued travel on the grass shoulder before encountering an irrigation canal, causing the Ford to become airborne before it collided into the east bank of the canal, police said.

An investigation reveals that the operator was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision and the vehicle’s airbags did deploy.

The involvement of speed, alcohol, and drugs has not been determined, as the investigation is still pending.

This is Maui County’s 16th traffic fatality of 2023, compared to 17 at the same time last year.

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