During the week of February 20 through February 26, 2023, Hawai’i Island police arrested 18 motorists for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. One of the drivers was involved in a traffic accident while one of the drivers was under age 21. 

So far in 2023, there have been 164 DUI arrests compared with 182 during the same period in 2022, a decrease  of 9.9 percent. 

After a review of all updated crashes, the Hawaiʻi County Police Department’s  Traffic Services Section found 147 major traffic crashes thus far in 2023 compared with 116 during the same period in 2022, an increase of 31 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 six fatal crashes, resulting in eight fatalities (one of which had multiple deaths) for the same time last year.