What happened to Jacqueline Bigno shows why vehicles don't belong on Hawai'i's beaches. Advocates say it is exactly what they have been warning against for years.

Bigno was face-down in the sand, napping and enjoying the day last weekend at Wailua's Kitchen's Beach on Kaua'i, with her daughter and 5-month-old granddaughter nearby.

Dozens of other beachgoers were likewise enjoying the sand and surf.

That's when Bigno, 38, got run over by a pickup truck.

"She never saw or heard him coming," said Bigno's daughter Fairyn Parbo, who saw the incident and immediately ran to her mother.

Parbo said her mother was conscious and complaining that her head and shoulders hurt.

As Parbo and her boyfriend tended to Bigno, a crowd of people on the beach gathered around them. A bystander called 911, and paramedics took Bigno to Wilcox Hospital.

The driver of the truck, it turned out, was Kawai Masao Watanabe, 21, whom Parbo described as her best friend.

According to Parbo, Watanabe was driving his truck at a reasonable speed when he spotted Parbo, 19, her boyfriend, and their 5-month-old daughter playing in the sand.

The family group had parked two vehicles on the shady mauka side of the beach south of the Kamalani Play Bridge, where dozens of beachgoers had parked their vehicles that day, she said.

Parbo and her boyfriend looked up to see Watanabe driving his truck between two parked vehicles to visit with them, when they realized that was where Bigno had been sunbathing alone on a small, blue pareo.

"She had just turned over and was face down," Parbo said of her mother. She estimated Bigno was in an area about 50 feet from her.

Parbo defended Watanabe's driving and his Nissan truck's oversized tires. "He really didn't see her," she said.

"It's the weirdest thing when your best friend runs over your mom."

Parbo said Watanabe later went to Wilcox Hospital to check on Bigno.

Watanabe was arrested Sunday on bench warrants for an outstanding contempt of court charge and released on $600 bond, police records show.

Watanabe did not respond to requests for comment.

Bigno later transferred from Wilcox Hospital to The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, where she spent the next few days before being discharged on Thursday.

"It's outrageous that people keep driving recklessly on the beaches," said Sen. Mike Gabbard, D-19th (Kapolei, Makakilo, Waikele), who has pushed through legislation designed to help deter vehicles on beaches.

STATE PROHIBITION

In general, state law says vehicles are not allowed on Hawai'i beaches or coastal areas.

"Basically, (the law) says no vehicles on the beach, period," said Morris Atta, land division administrator for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The beach and the shoreline, in state law, is generally defined as the highest wash of the waves.

There are exceptions, however, and the Kaua'i beach where Bigno was run over is one of them.

"Sometimes, with county beaches, the counties are given a set-aside by the state so that they basically have management jurisdiction and authority," Atta said. "And under those areas, the county ordinances would apply."

The Kaua'i County law says vehicles are permitted on county beaches to drop off or pick up people or supplies for picnicking, fishing, camping or swimming.

"Driving a motor vehicle back and forth or racing on a beach" is specifically identified as illegal in the Kaua'i County Ordinances and is subject to a fine of up to $1,000.

Kaua'i Police Chief Darryl Perry issued a press release urging residents to report illegal driving on beaches by calling police (241-1711) or CrimeStoppers (241-1887) and supplying photos if possible.

"What we're trying to convey to the public is that driving on the beach and dropping off supplies (for camping, fishing, swimming) is not unlawful," Perry said in an e-mail. "But what we want the public to know is that we need their help in catching drivers who have no consideration for others and who drive recklessly and speed. We are not after people who fish, picnic, camp or swim."

Lt. Mark Scribner said yesterday that the Kaua'i Police Department's traffic safety unit has taken over the investigation into possible negligent injury charges related to the incident. No decisions are expected until sometime next week.

Other counties have their own ordinances or rules.

In Hawai'i County, the ordinance states only that vehicles must stay on designated roadways and parking areas, said acting Deputy Parks Director James Komata.

There are a few recreational areas, such as Reed's Bay along Banyan Drive, where the sandy area in front of the water is the parking lot, Komata said. In other instances, the parks director has the discretion to allow vehicles on the beach, such as on canoe racing days along designated portions of Hilo's Bayfront Drive, he said.

On O'ahu, the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu says motor vehicles cannot be operated, parked or stored on any public beach except "areas specifically designed to accommodate motor vehicles such as paved roads for boat launchings."

BETTER ENFORCEMENT

Last year, a bill pushed by Gabbard gave DLNR law enforcement officers more authority to police the problem of vehicles on the beaches. Signed by Gov. Linda Lingle, the bill gives DLNR enforcement officers the power to issue criminal citations, arrest violators and even confiscate vehicles.

State wildlife officers are charged with ticketing people for driving on beaches, and they work in conjunction with each island's police and county rules, said Gary Moniz, DLNR administrator of the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.

"Generally speaking you shouldn't be driving on the beach," Moniz said.

Gabbard introduced the bill largely due to complaints about all-terrain vehicles that have terrorized beaches and wilderness areas in areas like the Wai'anae Coast and Waimanalo. The new law, however, applies not to just ATVs but all vehicles.

The law does not apply in the Kaua'i case, however, because Kitchen's is under Kaua'i County jurisdiction.

Gabbard said he was "blown away" by news of the Kaua'i case and went to visit Bigno at Queen's before she returned to Kaua'i. "She was all beat up," he said.

Kaua'i police assured him "they're going to punish this guy to the fullest extent of the law," Gabbard said.

He said he would like to meet with stakeholders and interested lawmakers to see if anything can be added to the laws to prevent a repeat occurrence.

While some may argue the need to transport equipment and passengers directly onto the beach and back, he said, "When public safety is at risk, that's got to trump everything else."

Gabbard said he received several calls expressing outrage at the incident.

Although her mother was injured because someone was driving on the beach, Parbo hopes the accident won't end the "tradition" of driving on the beach, she said.

"Everyone blames the truck, say there is bad visibility, but it could have happened with a two-wheel-drive car," Parbo said.