A 73-year-old Honolulu woman is dead and a veteran Honolulu police detective is under investigation after a pre-dawn traffic accident near Ala Moana Center yesterday.

Authorities identified the woman as Ok Nam Lee of Ho-nolulu.

Police did not release the identity of the detective, a 52-year-old man who works in the department's Criminal Investigation Division.

Capt. Frank Fujii, a spokes-man for the police department, said its traffic division has opened a negligent-homicide case, and that Internal Affairs will conduct a separate investigation as well.

Officers are reassigned to administrative duties that do not require the use of police powers while under investigation, Fujii said.

He said the detective was off duty and en route to a special- duty assignment when the accident occurred.

Traffic division investigators said they do not think alcohol or speeding were factors.

At 5:39 a.m., the detective was headed east on Ala Moana, police said.

The woman was crossing Ala Moana, 733 feet west of Atkinson Drive, when the detective's car hit her.

Traffic investigators said the woman was in a crosswalk, but that initial findings of the investigation were that she was crossing against the light.

Fujii said witness accounts differed as to whether the woman was in a crosswalk and crossing with or against the light.

It was O'ahu's 63rd traffic death this year, compared with 54 by this time last year.

Fujii pointed out that it was the fourth serious traffic accident since 6:30 the night before, and that the earlier wrecks had left three other people, including one other pedestrian, in critical condition.

"So we're asking drivers out there to please be careful and look out for each other," Fujii said.

"We're just having so many of these, and we don't want to see anymore."

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.