Speed was an apparent factor in a motorcycle crash on the H-1 Freeway in Kaimuki yesterday afternoon that fatally injured a 35-year-old Kapolei man, police said.

Witness told police vehicular homicide investigators that the motorcyclist was traveling at high speed in the west-bound lanes of the freeway about 4:20 p.m. when he appeared to lose control, veer to the right side and strike a guard-rail just before the 7th Avenue overpass.

The rider, who was wearing a helmet, was thrown from the 2008 Suzuki motorcycle and landed back on the roadway. He was then struck by a white Honda Civic driven by a 54-year-old woman from Honolulu, investigators said.

The motorcyclist was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition and was pronounced dead there at 5:06 p.m., police said.

The motorcyclist's death was the 13th Oahu traffic fatality in 2009 compared to 9 during the same period last year.

The motorcycle operator had not been positively identified as of this morning, the city Department of the Medical Examiner said.