Mainlander Stuck 4 Hours in Kihei Roundabout

A visiting Oregon woman on her way to the grocery store was stuck for hours in the traffic roundabout near Kihei’s Safeway on Monday.

Karen Johnson, 43, of Portland thought she was simply running to the store to stock up her vacation condo when her vehicle entered the small circular roundabout that makes up the intersection of Piikea Avenue and Liloa Street.

“I never run across those circle thingies where I live,” Johnson said. “I kept trying to turn off but got scared at the last second over and over and over again.

“How do you get out of those things, anyway?” she continued. “I could never figure out which off-ramp went to the store, and every time I wanted to just give up and just turn right to exit, another car got in the circle and confused me. It reminded me of being on a merry-go-round as a kid.”

She estimates that she entered the circle around 11 a.m. It wasn’t until her vehicle ran out of fuel at 3 p.m. that she was able to stop and exit the car.

A local skateboarder familiar with the neighborhood said “circle trappers” are not uncommon. However, he was impressed with Johnson’s determination.

“I mean, I would have gotten dizzy. That has to be a record,” said Bronson Johansson, 23, of Kihei. “I’m not sure anyone else noticed. She just mixed in with all the other cars going in and out of the roundabout by yielding and merging.”

When Johnson’s car slowly rolled to a stop at the edge of the roundabout, passersby ran up to help.

“We tried waving at her, trying to get her attention to stop,” said Jane Dolan, 32, of north Kihei. “But I think she was terrified. All we could see through the windshield was these white knuckles gripping the wheel, and these wide-open eyes. Over and over and over.”

“It reminded me of that NASCAR race last weekend in L.A., where the track was too short,” said Benjamin Rickert, 17, of Kihei, who was walking by. “Only, there was only 1 race car going in circles, and ... a bunch of other cars going in, and getting out. It was kind of fun to watch, actually.”

Johnson was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where she was treated for dehydration, officials said.

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