At the moment, the reason for the rules has less to do with thinking people are going to come into direct contact with the lava, or even the fumes (even as I write, the eruption is still 3 miles away from the road, though obviously it’s going to get closer and possibly reach the road soon), and a lot more to do with traffic safety. The highway does not have streetlights to illuminate it, because the whole island is kept as dark as possible at night so as not to create light pollution for the telescopes on Mauna Kea. Even if it did, things are still hard to see at night - especially when the driver is distracted by an amazing natural phenomenon like the lava flow!
So the risk of collisions and injuries skyrockets when everyone is rushing off to see the lava. Cars parked on the side of the road, and people getting in and out of their cars and even crossing the road, is a traffic tragedy waiting to happen.
A good friend of mine was very nearly killed when he was riding his motorcycle on a highway in the Everglades. He came upon a brush fire near the road with smoke blowing across the road. Entering the smoke he was ready for nearly anything. Except what he found in the smoke: all the lanes blocked with parked cars while people got out to take pictures of the flames. He hit a stopped car while going about 20mph. Which wasn’t so bad, but then a car hit him from behind going even faster.
After a couple years’ healing and therapy he can still walk, but it was a very near thing.
I think @Didi44 is on 'Oahu, but they’ll have to verify that; I’m not sure.
AFAIK I am the only currently active Doper on the Big Island; there used to be another poster who is on island part time as he owns a property that he operates as a B&B (his house is not that far away from me). I tried to reach out to him once, as I wanted to know who built the great stone wall in front of his property, but he never responded. And he hasn’t posted since before the migration to Discourse, so I doubt he’s coming back.
Here’s some nice aerial footage on YouTube from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. At about 3:20, you get a good view of how the lava simply spilled across the Mauna Loa access road. Saddle Road may be next, I guess. THAT’s going to be a major headache and it’s looking pretty likely.
I was watching ABC News tonight and they said there is a possibility of the lava overflowing the road, but it will be a couple of days before anyone knows for sure if that will happen. Kind of the opposite of flash flooding, I guess.
I think east to west, more or less. Certainly East Hawai’i is considered the “windward side.” But it’s variable. If there is a sulfur gas producing event occurring, it’s smart to keep up to date on whether the winds are going to bring it your way or not, since the answer can change fairly often.
If I’m not mistaken, more frequent, gentle eruptions are actually good because it prevents a volcano from building up the kind of pressure that eventually produces a Krakatoa or a Mount St. Helens kind of event. As volcanoes go, it seems to be percolating rather benignly. Thank God for that!
Multiple vehicle collisions already have been reported among drivers attempting to view the lava, with one Tuesday evening crash sending two passengers to the hospital.
According to a county news release, that crash occurred at about 9:05 p.m. Tuesday, when a car that was idled on the highway’s shoulder attempted to pull back into traffic and was struck by another vehicle. Six people were involved in the crash, with two requiring medical transport for minor injuries.
The Pohakuloa Training Area’s Fire and Emergency Services reported Wednesday that it has responded to three “serious” accidents on the highway since the eruption began.
