21 motorists arrested last week of September for DUI on Big Isle roads

The Hawai‘i Police Department last week continued its crackdown on those who choose to drive under the influence of intoxicants on Big Island roads.

Officers around the island had made nearly 750 total DUI arrests for the year as of Sept. 29.

Big Island police arrested 21 motorists for DUI during the week of Sept. 23-29; 6 were involved in traffic accidents and 2 were younger than 21 years old.

There had been a total of 741 DUI arrests for the year by Sunday, an increase of 3.4% from the 717 by the same date in 2023.

Police arrested the same number of motorists, 21, during the the week of Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2023, with 5 being involved in traffic crashes and 3 younger than 21.

There were 725 DUI arrests as of Oct. 1 last year compared with 746 by the same date in 2022, or a decrease of 2.7%.

Kona had the most DUI arrests last week with 10 followed by Hilo with 7. Puna had 3 and Ka‘ū rounded out the total with 1.

Kona also was on top for the year at the end of last week with 265 DUI arrests. Hilo had a total of 220, and Puna with 156 was the only other district in the triple digits.

A review of all updated crashes by the Traffic Services Section found there had been 734 major crashes on the island as of Sept. 29, an increase of 17.8% compared with the 623 by the same time last year.

There had been a total of 21 fatal crashes and 23 fatalities on island roadways in 2024 by the end of last week.

Those figures mark a 75% increase in fatal crashes and a 76.9% spike in fatalities from the 12 fatal crashes and 13 fatalities recorded by the same date in 2023.

The non-traffic fatality count, or fatalities that do not happen on a public road, remains at zero, the same as it was last year at this time.

DUI roadblocks and patrols will continue islandwide.