Hawaii Island police arrested 17 motorists for suspected drunken driving between Nov. 23 and Sunday. Four of the drivers were involved in a traffic crash and one was younger than age 21.
Kona officers arrested six drivers while South Hilo officers arrested five and Puna officers four, according to data released Monday by the Hawaii Police Department. Officers in South Kohala arrested two motorists.
So far this year, there have been 908 DUI arrests compared with 983 during the same period last year, according to police. Nearly 40% of those arrests have occurred in the department’s Kona district, which comprises the physical areas of North and South Kona.
There have been 708 major accidents so far this year compared with 900 during the same period last year. Fourteen fatalities have been recorded on Hawaii Island’s public roadways, police said. By this time in 2019, 23 people had perished.