Police arrest 8 for DUI

During the week of Dec. 21-27, Hawaii Island police arrested eight motorists for driving under the influence of an intoxicant.

Three of the drivers were involved in traffic crashes and one of those drivers was involved in two separate crashes, police said.

The numbers of arrests by district were: South Hilo, Kona and Puna, two each; Hamakua and South Kohala, one each.

So far this year, there have been 1,055 DUI arrests compared to 1,151 during the same period last year, a decrease of 8.3 percent.

There have been 1,523 major accidents so far this year compared to 1,535 during the same period last year, a decrease of 0.8 percent.

There have been 14 fatal crashes on Hawaii Island, resulting in 17 official traffic fatalities this year, compared to 11 fatalities for all of 2014. That represents an increase of 27.3 percent for fatal crashes and 54.5 percent for fatalities.

To date, impaired driving was a factor in 11 fatalities, according to police. Of those, six involved drugs and five involved drugs and alcohol.

DUI roadblocks and patrols will continue islandwide, police said.