Traffic fatalities have been sharply down in 2014 as opposed to previous years and police are hoping to maintain that trend with stepped up DUI enforcement during the holiday season.
“We increased our number of DUI checkpoints before Thanksgiving and it’s going on up until New Year’s and we’re also increasing our enforcement,” said Sgt. Christopher Gali, leader of the Hawaii Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit.
Official traffic deaths this year totaled 11 as of Friday, with another five unofficial fatalities that occurred either on private roads or were attributed to medical conditions suffered by the driver. Those numbers stand in stark contrast to the 25 official traffic deaths on Big Island roads in 2013 and the 38 official fatalities in 2012.
It appears one reason for the drop in fatalities is the completion of Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Route 200), better known as the new Saddle Road, as the main traffic artery between East and West Hawaii. The highway has signficantly cut commute time between Hilo and Kona, and that has reduced east-west traffic on Hawaii Belt Road (Highway 19), a road that has claimed 17 lives since 2009, including three collisions with multiple fatalities. A head-on collision Thursday on Hawaii Belt Road in Laupahoehoe sent a man and two women to the hospital.
There has been only one death on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway since its dedication Sept. 7, 2013.
On Nov. 29, 2013, 31-year-old Troy Pattioay of Keaau was killed when the brakes on his tractor-trailer truck failed on a steep grade near mile marker 51, causing him to lose control of the big rig.
“That was more of a mechanical issue,” noted Sgt. Robert Pauole, leader of the Traffic Services Division.
Pauole and Gali think vigorous speeding enforcement on the new Saddle Road also has helped keep drivers and their passengers safer.
“I like to think it’s working,” Pauole said. “It’s a well-designed road, so it’s ideal for traveling, but that’s why we try to keep the speeders down because speed will cause you to cross the line and could cause a wreck. A wreck up there would be a really bad one, so that’s what we’re trying to discourage by being up there.”
“More people do use the Inouye highway, the new Saddle,” Gali added. “That could play an important factor. The road is better, too. But with the road being the way it is, we have a lot of speeders up there.”
Gali offered another possible explanation — fewer cars on the road in the late-night and early-morning hours.
“From what I see out there on the weekend times, I work until 3:30 in the morning and there’s not much traffic out there,” he said. “Fatalities usually occur in the early morning hours and I just don’t see much traffic on the road. I think that plays a part on the fatalities being lower.”
Gali didn’t offer any reason for the lack of late-night traffic, but one factor could be the closures of Shooter’s Bar and Grill on Banyan Drive and Uncle Mikey’s Video Dance Club. The only establishment in Hilo serving alcohol later than 2 a.m. is Karma HI in the Kanoelehua Industrial Area.
DUI arrests also are down this year. As of today, there were 1,082 DUI arrests compared to 1,233 last year, a decrease of 12.2 percent.
Conversely, major accidents, which are defined as those with $3,000 in vehicle damage or more, are up. As of today, they numbered 1,432, compared to 1,255 during the same period last year, an increase of 14.1 percent.
Pauole said DUI enforcement, which is enhanced during the holiday season by a federal “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” grant, will continue through New Year’s.
Police released a statement Thursday focusing on the possible legal and financial consequences of DUI arrests and convictions. They include: $500 minimum bail for release from jail; $200 plus $92.56 a month for installation of a steering interlock device; loss of driver’s license; possible insurance cancellation or premium increase of up to $100 a month; alcohol assessment classes; and possible jail time, fines and court fees, probation and/or community service.
“I think a lot of people know how dangerous DUI is. You can kill someone,” Pauole said. “I think a lot of people don’t know the financial and time consequences of DUI. If you’re convicted of DUI, you’re required to go to a class and they make you fill out a form. Those forms come to us for review. … The one question I like to look at is ‘what didn’t you know?’ A lot of people answer they didn’t know they had to go to that type of class and they didn’t know how expensive DUI is.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.