During the week of July 31- Aug. 6, Hawaii Island police arrested 17 motorists for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Five of the drivers were involved in a traffic accident. One of the drivers was under the age of 21.
So far this year, there have been 689 DUI arrests compared with 635 during the same period last year, an increase of 8.5 percent.
There have been 794 major accidents so far this year compared with 864 during the same period last year, a decrease of 8.1 percent.
To date, there were 19 fatal crashes (one of which had multiple deaths), resulting in 21 fatalities, compared with 13 fatal crashes (two of which had multiple deaths), resulting in 15 fatalities for the same time last year. This represents an increase of 46.2 percent for fatal crashes, and 40 percent for fatalities.
DUI roadblocks and patrols will continue islandwide.