Big Island police believe a combination of drinking and speeding were factors in a deadly traffic crash Tuesday night in North Kona that claimed the life of a 17-year-old Waikoloa girl riding in her mother's taxi.

Investigators said the 2000 GMC taxi van carrying Angela Apostadiro and her 50-year-old mother was hit by a car traveling the wrong way on Ka'ahumanu Highway just south of the Hualālai Resort about 8:07 p.m.

The second car, a 2005 Hyundai multipurpose vehicle, reportedly was speeding southward when it overtook another car and veered across the road onto the shoulder of the north-bound lane, police said. The Hyundai continued on the shoulder, passing several northbound cars before colliding with the taxi van.

Police said none of those involved in the crash was wearing a seat belt.

Apostadiro died shortly after midnight, becoming the county's seventh traffic fatality of the year, compared with five a year ago. Her mother — the taxi's driver — and an 88-year-old woman visiting from France who may have been a fare in the taxi were taken to Kona Community Hospital. The older woman was later transferred to The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, police said.

The Hyundai driver, Joseph Edgar Jr., 21, of Kealakekua, was treated for minor injuries at Kona Community Hospital before being arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide, and drunken and reckless driving.

Police are asking anyone with information on the crash to call officer Joshua Lewis at 326-4646, ext. 229.