Maui Police Launch Fourth of July Weekend Impaired Driving Enforcement Campaign

Starting this Thursday July 2, and continuing through the Fourth of July Weekend, the Maui Police Department Traffic Division will be conducting sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols at various locations to address impaired driving over the holiday weekend.

Maui Police Department Traffic Commander, Lt. William Hankins said, “Motorists can expect the Maui Police Department to take a zero tolerance approach to impaired driving. Our goal is to promote voluntary compliance of all traffic laws and reduce motor vehicle crashes on our roadways.”

The reminder comes close to the one year anniversary of the death of Hannah Brown, a 19-year-old Maui girl who died in a motor vehicle accident on June 23, 2019 on the Kūihelani Highway in Kahului.  Police say the vehicle Brown was in was struck head-on by a drunk driver.

Since Brown’s passing, friends and family organized an annual Hannah Brown Memorial Impaired Driving Checkpoint, which is scheduled to take place annually.   The Maui County Council also unanimously adopted an ordinance in December 2019, similar to Aliyah’s Law on Hawaiʻi Island where officers can now tow vehicles following a DUI arrest.

Also, effective today, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brandon Segal will serve as the first Supervisor of Maui’s new Vehicular Homicide and Road Safety Unit.  The new unit is dedicated to the prosecution of traffic crimes, including motor vehicle-related homicide, habitual alcohol and drug impaired driving, and felony injury related to speeding and distracted driving.

The Maui Police Department DUI Task Force Unit is also asking for the public’s assistance in helping to keep roadways safe for everyone by following the following tips.

• Plan a safe way home before you start celebrating.
• Before drinking, designate a sober driver. If you wait until you are impaired, you are more likely to make a bad decision.
• If you have been drinking, utilize UBER or LYFT, take a taxi, call a sober friend or family member.
• If you see an impaired driver on the road, call the Maui Police Department 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 his or her keys. Help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.