Maui Police to Conduct Independence Day Impaired Driving Enforcement

Independence Day Impaired Driving Enforcement. Maui Now image.

By Maui Now Staff

The Maui Police Department will be promoting safe driving and conducting an impaired driving enforcement campaign over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

The enforcement will include increased sobriety checkpoints set up by the department’s DUI Task Force Unit.  Police will also be conducting roving and saturation patrols throughout the weekend.

In a press release announcement, Maui Police Traffic Section Sergeant Nick Krau said, “Impaired driving is a preventable problem on Independence Day each year.”

He said, “Unfortunately, this increased enforcement is necessary, impaired driving remains a problem and we will be out in full force, aggressively targeting those who put lives in danger.”

According to Krau, in 2013, Forbes magazine named the Independence Day holiday, “the most dangerous holiday of the year.” Nationwide in 2013, he said the publication reported that there were 512 people killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

“If you drive impaired, you not only put your life and the lives of others at risk. Arrested impaired drivers face jail time, the loss of their driver licenses, higher insurance rates, and dozens of other unanticipated expenses from attorney fees, fines and court costs, (and) lost time at work,” he said.

Sgt. Krau compiled a list of tips for the public to follow to help in keeping Maui roads safe this holiday weekend:

• Plan a safe way home before you start drinking.
• Before drinking, designate a sober driver. If you wait until you’re impaired, you’re more likely to make a bad decision.
• If you’ve been drinking, take a taxi, call a sober friend or family member.
• If you see an impaired driver on the road, call the Maui Police Department’s non-emergency number at (808) 244-6400 to report it. You could save a life.
• If you know someone who is about to drive while impaired, be a true friend and take their keys.

“Help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely. Remember, impaired driving crashes are 100% preventable,” said Sgt. Krau.