Holiday Checkpoints Result in 49 Arrests, 891 Citations

DUI checkpoint. Photo courtesy Big Island Now.

The Maui Police Department partnered with the state Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the holiday season’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over is a national campaign aimed to prevent traffic crashes that result in death, injury and economic loss in our community due to impaired driving.

During this 18-day campaign that started on Dec. 16 and ran through Jan. 2, police set up 14 intoxication control in various locations throughout Maui County. In addition, police increased dedicated traffic enforcement saturation patrols using both marked and unmarked police vehicles.

All traffic laws were strictly enforced during this campaign, with an emphasis placed on impaired driving. The breakdown of the 49 arrests and 891 citations issued during the 18-day campaign are as follows:

• Operating a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant arrests: 49
• Uninsured motorist citations issued: 119
• Driving without a driver’s license citations issued: 109
• Speeding citations issued: 246
• Miscellaneous traffic violation citations issued: 417

Although the Nationwide Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign has come to an end, the mission of the Maui Police Department Traffic Section continues. MPD will patrol Maui’s roadways around the clock and strictly enforce all traffic laws. Intoxication Control Checkpoints will be utilized throughout the community on randomly selected nights at various locations.

Too many families have already been devastated by the tragic, preventable deaths of loved ones in alcohol-involved crashes, the MPD stated in their summary.

“We want to put an end to these tragedies,” reported Sgt. Nick Krau, supervisor of the DUI Task Force Unit. “We participated in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign because we wanted to send a strong message; the Maui Police Department will not tolerate impaired driving in our community. Our goal is to gain the voluntary compliance of all traffic laws and arresting impaired drivers who put lives at risk. The bottom line is our entire Traffic Section wants to save lives.”

The Maui Police Department’s Traffic Section and DUI Task Force Unit thanks those members of our community who have been supportive of our dedicated traffic enforcement efforts. MPD also thanks those who have helped in its efforts to save lives and reduce injuries by driving responsibly and also using or being a designated driver.