HPD increases highway enforcement after deadly DKI crash

A heavier HPD presence is coming to the Daniel K. Inouye Highway after a deadly Mile Marker 18 crash shut the cross-island route for about four hours and renewed alarm over speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving and seat belt violations on the island’s main Hilo-Kona link.

The Hawaii Police Department said it began significantly increasing selective enforcement operations on June 4 along the highway, where officers are targeting the behaviors most often tied to serious wrecks. HPD is urging drivers to slow down, keep their attention on the road, wear seat belts every trip and never drive impaired. Motorists can report dangerous driving by calling 911 in emergencies or the department’s nonemergency line at (808) 935-3311.

The stepped-up patrols follow a June 4 collision near Mile Marker 18 involving a Kona-bound Toyota 4Runner, a Ford F450 dump truck and a minivan. Police said the 4Runner lost control, hydroplaned into the opposite lane and collided with the oncoming dump truck. One person died, another was injured, and the minivan skidded off the road with no injuries.

The crash was the fifth death along a 13-mile stretch of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway in the past month. From Jan. 1 through June 4, HPD recorded three fatal crashes on the highway that killed five people, compared with no fatal crashes on the route during the same period last year. Officers conducted 162 selective enforcement operations on the highway in that span and contacted 1,256 drivers. Since 2024, eight fatal crashes on the highway have killed 11 people, with deadly wrecks also reported near Mile Markers 13, 25 and 26.

State and county leaders have been pressed to do more than issue warnings. The state recently installed delineators and other traffic-calming measures between Mile Markers 16 and 19, state Rep. Sue Lee Loy said lawmakers approved a bill this year allowing speed camera programs to expand statewide, and Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said the county has already used public service announcements and roadside signage. For commuters, truckers and visitors crossing the island, the message is clear: the DKI is under closer watch, and the next violation could mean a citation, a delay or another devastating crash.