More than 20 DUI arrests made during 2nd week of 2025 on Big Island roads

Nearly twice as many drivers during the second week of 2025 than the first were arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant on Big Island roads, a sobering and heavy statistic on the heels of a year when DUI arrests increased by almost 1%.

Hawai‘i Police Department reports that officers during the week of Jan. 6-12 arrested 23 motorists for DUI. That’s 11 more — almost double — than the 12 DUI arrests police reported from the first week of the new year Jan. 1-5.

Ten of those drivers arrested the week of Jan. 6-12 were involved in traffic incidents; one of the drivers was younger than 21 years old.

Hawai‘i County actually started this year with fewer DUI arrests than the same time period in 2024, but that deficit was wiped out in a matter of 7 days, replaced instead with an increase.

Kona had the most DUI arrests for the Jan. 6-12 period with 9 followed by Hilo with 7; however, Hilo remains at the top for year-to-date numbers with 14 through the end of that week and Kona coming in second with 11.

There had been 35 total DUI arrests by Jan. 12 on Big Island roadways, a 20.7% spike from the 29 recorded by the same date last year.

The Traffic Services Section also reviewed all updated crashes and found 26 major crashes so far this year, a decrease of 18.8% from the 32 in the first couple of weeks in 2024.

Two fatal crashes and two fatalities have tragically already happened this year, but fortunately those numbers are both 33.3% less than the 3 fatal crashes and 3 fatalities by this time last year.

That’s good news, however, since Hawaiʻi County saw the second-highest number of traffic-related fatalities in the state last year, with a total of 29 people killed in 26 fatal crashes.

There have been zero non-traffic fatalities, those that do not happen on a public roadway, so far this year.

Hawai‘i Police Department says DUI roadblocks and patrols will continue islandwide.