Two men were killed in separate freeway crashes in the Kalihi area.

A 27-year-old Pearl City man driving west through the rain on Moanalua Freeway in a 2005 Toyota Camry crashed into a state Department of Transportation mobile electronic warning sign at about 12:29 yesterday morning.

Traffic investigators said the accident occurred near where the H-1 and Moanalua freeways merge. They said they suspect speeding was a factor in the crash.

In the earlier accident, a 39-year-old man from Waikoloa on the Big Island died Tuesday night of injuries he suffered when his 2006 Dodge Stratus was struck from behind by a 2005 Toyota Camry at about 10:45 p.m. in an eastbound lane of the freeway near the Vineyard Boulevard off-ramp. Police investigators said the accident occurred after the Dodge Stratus had come to a stop in its lane.

The Dodge Stratus driver was pronounced dead at The Queen's Medical Center at 11:39 p.m. Tuesday. The other motorist, a 47-year-old Kalihi man, refused treatment at the scene for an elbow injury, investigators said. Traffic was moderate at the time of the collision and the road surface was dry, investigators said.

The two fatalities marked the 19th and 20th of the year, compared with 18 during the same period last year.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.