During the week of Sept. 23-29, Hawaii Island police arrested 20 motorists for DUI. Five of the drivers were involved in a traffic accident. None were younger than 21.
The numbers of arrests by district were: Kona, 11; South Hilo, six; Puna, two; and South Kohala, one.
There were multiple bookings on other charges stemming from the DUI arrests — four for driving after license suspended, four for driving without a license, nine for driving without insurance, and one each for promoting a dangerous drug and for marijuana possession. In addition, there were seven bookings for other moving or regulatory violations, police said.
So far this year, there have been 838 DUI arrests compared with 843 during the same period last year, a decrease of 0.6 percent.
There have been 718 major accidents so far this year compared to 921 during the same period last year, a decrease of 22 percent.
To date, there have been 14 official traffic fatalities compared to 24 fatalities at this time last year. This represents a decrease of 41.7 percent for fatalities. There have also been three deaths on Big Island roads this year that aren’t counted toward the official traffic fatality total. One was ruled caused by a medical condition, another of natural causes and a third occurred within the boundaries of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and not in Hawaii Police Department jurisdiction.
DUI roadblocks and patrols will continue islandwide, police said.