Police issue 283 citations on Daniel K. Inouye Highway weekend operation

Hawaii Police Department officers issued 283 citations during a July 31-Aug. 2 enforcement operation along the Daniel K. Inouye Highway corridor, with 174 of those tickets for speeding. The weekend sweep kept the cross-island route, also known as Saddle Road, at the center of the department’s summer traffic crackdown on Hawaii Island.

Police have said the high-visibility campaign is aimed at reducing injuries and fatalities from motor vehicle crashes and curbing dangerous driving behaviors on the DKI Highway corridor. In a June 4 release, the department said it would significantly increase selective enforcement along the roadway after a fatal crash there, linking the stepped-up presence directly to safety concerns on one of the island’s most important routes.

That earlier response followed a June 10 report that police presence on the roadway had increased that month and that hundreds of speeding citations had already been issued. The department later said high-visibility traffic enforcement continued along Daniel K. Inouye Highway during the week of June 15-21, underscoring that the recent weekend operation was part of a longer campaign rather than a one-off checkpoint.

For Big Island drivers, the latest citation count shows where police continue to see the most risk: speed. The 174 speeding tickets made up the bulk of the 283 citations issued over the three-day operation, and the numbers point to a corridor that remains a priority for law enforcement as summer travel continues across Hawaii Island.