DUI Checkpoints & Crime on the Road, Sobriety Checkpoints

Big Isle police are informing motorists that police will be conducting DUI checkpoints throughout the Big Island in anticipation of the upcoming Halloween weekend. The effort is part of a national and statewide campaign called “Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” Sergeant Kelly Ka’aumoana-Matsumoto, head of the Traffic Services Section, said police are reminding motorist of the consequences of impaired driving.

Officers from the Traffic Enforcement Unit and Traffic Services Section, supported by officers from South Hilo Community Policing and the Traffic Safety Coordinator, representing the Impaired Driving Task Force conducted a DUI checkpoint Friday (October 30) in Hilo. They remind motorists about the hazards of drinking and driving and gave them literature on the subject as well as a Halloween candy provided by the Hawai’i Chapter of Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD).

The checkpoint kicked off the upcoming Halloween enforcement efforts on the Big Island.

Drunk driving was responsible for at least 10 of the 19 traffic deaths so far this year, amounting to 53 percent of the total. By comparison 17 of the 27 fatalities recorded for all of last year, or 63 percent, were attributed to drunk driving.

“We need to get the message out that driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs kills,” said Ka’aumoana-Matsumoto. “Always remember to have a designated, sober and licensed driver before you start drinking.”

Hawai’i Police Department
Traffic Services Section
Sergeant Kelly Ka’aumoana-Matsumoto
Phone: 961-2305
October 30, 2009
Media Release
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