14 motorists arrested for DUI during 1st week of October

Big Island police continue to crack down on motorists who choose to drive under the influence of intoxicants on island roadways, arresting 14 for DUI during the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 6.

Three of those drivers were involved in traffic crashes. None of them were younger than 21 years old.

Six of those arrests were made in Kona, followed by Hilo with 4. South Kohala had 2 DUI arrests, with and Kaʻū and Puna each having 1.

There had been a total of 755 DUI arrests for the year as of Oct. 6. Kona also has the most for the year with 271, again followed by Hilo with 224 and Puna rounding out triple digits with 157.

The 755 total so far in 2024 is a 1.21% increase from the 746 during the same time period last year.

Hawai‘i Police Department’s Traffic Services Section reviewed all updated crashes and found 753 major crashes for the year as of Oct. 6, an increase of 17.1% from the same time period in 2023.

There had been 21 fatal crashes resulting in 23 fatalities in 2024 as of Oct. 6, an increase of 62% from the 13 fatal crashes and 64.3% from the 14 fatalities recorded by the same date last year.

The non-traffic fatality count, those fatalities that did not happen on a public roadway, remains at zero for the year, the same as last year as of Oct. 6.

DUI roadblocks and patrols will continue islandwide.