KAILUA-KONA — Hawaii Island police arrested 27 motorists for suspected drunken driving between Dec. 2 and Sunday. Four of the drivers were involved in a traffic crash and one was younger than age 21.
Kona officers arrested 10 drivers while South Hilo officers arrested seven and Puna officers six, according to data released Tuesday morning by the Hawaii Police Department. Officers in Hamakua, North Hilo, South Kohala and Ka‘u arrested one motorist in each district.
So far this year, there have been 1,014 DUI arrests compared with 1,018 during the same period last year, according to police. There have been 917 major accidents so far this year compared with 1,077 during the same period last year.
Twenty-three fatalities had been recorded on Hawaii Island’s public roadways through Tuesday morning, police said. By this time in 2018, 29 people had perished.