MEDIA RELEASE

During the week of December 26, 2016, through December 31, 2016, Hawaiʻi Island police arrested 22 motorists for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Five of the drivers were involved in traffic accidents. Two of the drivers were under the age of 21.

In 2016, there were 1,111 DUI arrests compared with 1,064 in 2015, an increase of 4.4 percent. The numbers of arrests by district were:

District	Weekly Total	Year to Date
Hāmākua 	0		15	
North Hilo	0		5	
South Hilo	6		284	
Puna    	5		288	
Kaʻū    	0		9	
Kona    	11		451	
South Kohala	0		53	
North Kohala	0		6	
Island Total	22		1,111

There were 1,436 major accidents in 2016 compared with 1,550 in 2015, a decrease of 7.4 percent.

In 2016 there were 27 fatal crashes on Hawaiʻi Island (five of which had multiple deaths), resulting in 32 fatalities, compared with 15 fatal crashes (three of which had multiple deaths), resulting in 19 fatalities in 2015. This represents an increase of 80 percent for fatal crashes and 68.4 percent for fatalities.

DUI roadblocks and patrols will continue island wide.