During the week of March 27 through April 2, 2023, Hawaiʻi Island police arrested 18 motorists for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Four of the drivers were involved in a traffic accident. None of the drivers were under age 21.
Thus far in 2023, there have been 266 DUI arrests compared with 283 during the same period last year, a decrease of 6.0 percent. The Hawai‘i County Police Department’s Traffic Services Section reviewed all updated crashes and found 235 major crashes so far in 2023 compared with 187 during the same period last year, an increase of 25.7 percent. To date, there have been four fatal crashes, resulting in five fatalities, (Rvsd. 02/07/23: one fatal crash reclassified—manner of death was due to natural causes) and (one fatal crash had multiple deaths); compared with 10 fatal crashes, resulting in 12 fatalities (one of which had multiple deaths) for the same time last year. This represents a decrease of 60 percent for fatal crashes, and 58.3 percent for fatalities.