Big Island police report 23 DUI arrests, 13 tied to crashes

Hawaii Island police reported 23 DUI arrests for April 6 through April 12, and 13 of those drivers were involved in traffic accidents. One arrestee was younger than 21, a reminder that impaired driving on the Big Island reaches beyond older repeat offenders and into newer drivers as well.

The numbers matter because crash-involved DUI arrests can quickly turn into injuries, property damage and blocked roadways on an island where many trips depend on long drives and limited alternate routes. The Hawaii Police Department said DUI roadblocks and patrols would continue islandwide, keeping pressure on nighttime drivers across Hawaii County.

So far this year, police have reported 242 DUI arrests, down from 273 during the same period in 2025. That 11.36 percent decline suggests some improvement in the enforcement tally, but it does not by itself show a drop in dangerous driving. The broader traffic picture has shifted less dramatically. Police reported 284 major crashes through April 12, compared with 286 at the same point last year, and four fatalities, down from 10 a year earlier.

The weekly DUI reports have also shown that enforcement and arrests are not evenly spread across the island. In the prior week, March 30 through April 5, police reported 21 DUI arrests, with five drivers involved in traffic accidents and one driver under 21. Arrests that week were concentrated in just three of the county’s eight districts: 14 in Kona, five in Hilo and two in Puna. That pattern pointed to the island’s busiest population centers and travel corridors, where weekend traffic, late-night driving and longer stretches between destinations can raise the stakes.

The current April 6 through April 12 report did not break down arrests by district, but it fits a pattern that has stayed persistent across recent weekly releases. In the week of Dec. 9 through Dec. 15, 2024, Hawaii Island police reported 18 DUI arrests, seven crash-involved drivers and two motorists under 21. That same report put year-to-date DUI arrests at 923, above 902 at the same point in 2023, with 943 major crashes and 28 fatalities.

The latest count reinforces a basic road-safety reality on the Big Island: each DUI arrest is more than a citation statistic. When more than half of a week’s arrests are tied to crashes, the cost reaches commuters, families, emergency responders and businesses that depend on safe travel after dark.