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Saturation Saturday screens 400 drivers

4 DUI arrests are made; patrols out Labor Day weekend

By Lila Fujimoto 6 min read

WAIKAPU -- Some drivers got a preview of stepped-up DUI enforcement planned for this Labor Day weekend when Mothers Against Drunk Driving volunteers joined police at DUI checkpoints Saturday night.

The volunteers handed out goodie bags and thanked sober drivers, partnering with police for the first nationwide Saturation Saturday.

"We just want everybody to be safe," said Andrea Maniago, who was among about a dozen MADD volunteers at the roadblocks.

The timing was perfect because police typically see an increase in impaired driving on Labor Day weekend, said DUI Task Force Sgt. Nick Krau.

"We've learned over the years of doing constant enforcement, we cannot solve this problem of impaired driving with enforcement alone," Krau said. "So we're trying to incorporate more education along with enforcement.

"Having them out here to support us and bring awareness is very helpful for our cause. We have the same goal -- and that's to have zero preventable fatalities on our roadways."

Police traffic officers set up four DUI checkpoints for Saturation Saturday, starting with simultaneous roadblocks about 2 miles apart in opposite directions on Kuihelani Highway. Later in the night, officers moved to Maui Veterans Highway, where a checkpoint at Milepost 1 screened Kihei-bound drivers while another checkpoint at Milepost 6 stopped Kahului-bound drivers.

Working into early Sunday morning, officers made four arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant, one arrest for third-degree promoting of a dangerous drug and one warrant arrest.

Through Saturday this year, police have made 351 arrests for operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant in Maui County.

"During this same period we have already experienced 15 traffic fatalities this year as compared to 11 during this same period last year," Krau said.

He said about half of the traffic deaths this year have involved the use of drugs or alcohol or both.

"Every impaired driving collision is a preventable collision," he said.

The statistics and the tragedies behind them have led police and others to focus on impaired driving.

"We're trying to find new creative ways to put an end to this," Krau said. "We're hoping by working with MADD to get more awareness and education, that's going to help us."

At least 400 drivers were screened Saturday night at the four checkpoints, which were set up in high-visibility areas with a recent history of crashes and impaired driving arrests, Krau said.

Between the two checkpoints on Kuihelani Highway was the location where 19-year-old Wailuku resident Hannah Brown was killed in a head-on collision in the early-morning hours of June 23. She was a passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend that was hit by a sport utility vehicle that was going the wrong way and was driven by a suspected drunken driver, police said.

"This highway definitely needs some extra attention," Krau said.

No DUI arrests were made at the Kuihelani Highway checkpoint. One pickup truck driver with two passengers in the bed was reminded that all seats in the cab have to be filled before anyone can ride in the back. And some drivers were warned to slow down.

"Nowadays, with so many people working multiple jobs and having to pick up their kids, speeding is definitely a problem," Krau said. "Everyone's so busy. There's not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything they need to accomplish. A lot of people try to make up for time by speeding."

MADD started Saturation Saturday in 2016 to promote safety before the three-day Labor Day weekend. This year, the event grew to include nearly 250 law enforcement departments around the country that planned sobriety checkpoints, increased DUI patrols and other enforcement aimed at preventing impaired driving, according to MADD.

At the checkpoint stopping Maalaea-bound drivers on Kuihelani Highway, Maniago said she was impressed by the traffic officers' professionalism and the response from drivers.

"Everybody seemed to appreciate that we were out here and that we were with MADD showing our support," Maniago said.

She has been a MADD volunteer for 10 years, since her 16-year-old son, Kaio Fukushima, was killed in a 2009 drunken driving crash.

Maniago said a few people declined when offered the MADD "No More Victims" goodie bags containing a MADD pamphlet, pen, clip and magnet.

"But everybody was super respectful and grateful," Maniago said.

Krau, who was a Kihei patrol officer when he became interested in DUI enforcement 18 years ago, said he learned from Lt. William Hankins, who at the time was a DUI Task Force officer.

"We worked together for several years doing impaired driving enforcement," Krau said. "He was one of my mentors."

Hankins is now commander of the Traffic Section, which includes the DUI Task Force that focuses on arresting impaired drivers.

"We have been doing this for such a long time, and many others were doing it before us," Krau said. "For us to still see how common it is, after all the work all the officers before us put in for decades, is really disappointing. It needs to stop."

Krau said he has been monitoring results from the Utah Highway Patrol after the state lowered its legal limit for drunken driving to 0.05 percent this year.

From January to March 2018, the Utah Highway Patrol reported 416 alcohol-related crashes with 10 fatalities. In the first three months of this year, after the 0.05 percent legal limit took effect, there were 236 alcohol-related crashes and three fatalities for more than a 40 percent decline statewide, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.

In Hawaii, the legal limit for alcohol is 0.08 percent.

"There's very significant and credible research that shows people are impaired at 0.05," Krau said. "If something so simple as our state lawmakers changing the law to 0.05 can save even one life, it's worth it.

"We support any law that helps to make our roadways safer and also protects the rights of all motorists."

For Labor Day weekend, starting Friday and continuing into Monday, police plan DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols at unannounced times and locations.

"We need help from the community," Krau said. "If you're driving and you see a suspected impaired driver, please call and report it to the Police Department. If you know someone who's been drinking, take their keys and help them find an alternative way home.

"No one else has to be killed by an impaired driver on our roads. Every single impaired driving fatality is preventable."

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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