{"id":160256,"date":"2022-06-07T08:15:30","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T18:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=160256"},"modified":"2022-06-07T16:30:07","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T02:30:07","slug":"maunakea-rangers-improve-safety-brake-checks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/06\/07\/maunakea-rangers-improve-safety-brake-checks\/","title":{"rendered":"Maunakea Rangers improve public safety with brake checks"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Ranger
Maunakea Ranger conducts a brake check<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo<\/a> Maunakea Rangers started conducting brake temperature checks in 2022 on all vehicles returning from the nearly 14,000-foot summit of Maunakea. The rangers proactively added the safety precaution after it was determined that three accidents on Maunakea Access Road in early 2022, including a fatal accident, were caused by brake failure.<\/p>\n

An average of 50 to 100 vehicles travel to the summit each day, and about 30% of them checked at the Hale P\u014dhaku mid-level facility exceed a safe brake temperature reading. The rangers direct the drivers of those vehicles to park and allow their brakes to cool.<\/p>\n

“This is just one example of how committed our rangers are to public safety,” said Greg Chun<\/strong>, the executive director of the UH<\/abbr> Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship<\/a>. “They identified this potentially deadly problem and implemented this now standard operating procedure that will ultimately save lives.”<\/p>\n

The rangers collectively proposed adding the safety measure and requested the equipment needed to check brake temperature.<\/p>\n

“At the end of the day, we want everyone to be able to return safely to their loved ones,&rdquo said Maunakea Ranger Oscar Pouoa<\/strong>. “This is our kuleana (responsibility) as rangers, and it’s not just about protecting the people who visit the mauna, but it’s about protecting this place.”<\/p>\n

The rangers inspect every vehicle at the mid-level checkpoint before they are allowed to travel to the summit. The vehicles are checked for proper maintenance, brakes and to make sure they have four-wheel drive along with being screened for invasive species. On average, the rangers turn around more than 60% of vehicles inspected. Drivers who pass the inspection are advised to use low gear (or first gear) on their way back down. Not engaging low gear on the nine-mile long, steep, mostly gravel summit road can overheat brakes and cause them to fail.<\/p>\n

\"Vehicle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rangers added the safety precaution after it was determined that three accidents on Maunakea Access Road were caused by brake failure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1511,659,14,947],"class_list":["post-160256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-center-for-maunakea-stewardship","tag-maunakea","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-system","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t