by Carolyn Lucas
Stephens Media

Nearly $2.5 million in federal money will pay for initiatives to combating drunk driving in Hawaii, U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka announced Thursday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will disburse the grant, which can only be used to deter drunken driving and promote traffic safety.

"Too many people in Hawaii have been seriously injured or killed by drunk drivers," Akaka said. "On the Big Island alone, police said 15 people were killed last year in drunk driving accidents and more than 1,400 drivers under the influence were arrested, far too many."

Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna said state and federal grants are "very important" to local police departments. Mahuna looked forward to Hawaii Island receiving some of the funding. He said it will be used to fund overtime for DUI enforcement, screenings, roadblocks, measures aimed at getting drunken drivers off the road, and saturation patrols, where officers cover a specific area where repeated drunken-driving arrests have occurred.

Mahuna said his officers are dedicated to keeping the fatality rate down. By vigilant DUI enforcement, the Police Department has seen a significant decline in traffic deaths related to alcohol and drugs.

As of Monday, police had arrested 987 motorists for DUI this year, compared with 938 during the same period last year, a 5 percent increase.

"We have taken a stance against impaired driving. It kills more people than murder and can be prevented by just making a spilt-second decision not to get into a vehicle, realize one's limits and not make bad decisions," he said. "It's critical that prevention and enforcement efforts receive adequate funding and remain one of our highest priorities."

Leah Marx, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Hawaii chapter, also stressed the importance of money for prevention programs, enforcement and other measures. Marx said highly visible law enforcement keeps drunk drivers off the road and save lives.

Other recent efforts include Gov. Lingle passing into law a bill that established the framework for an ignition interlock program to keep convicted drunken drivers from driving while intoxicated again. With ignition interlock devices, the driver must blow into the device, which locks down the ignition if the person's blood-alcohol content level is above .02 percent.

A Hawaii Ignition Interlock Implementation Task Force will fine tune the details of how the program would work and make recommendations to the Legislature prior to the 2009 legislative session. The task force will focus on such details as how to apply the law to motorcycles, how to treat drivers under 18, whether drivers can take off the device early for good behavior and related issues. Once these issues are addressed by the Legislature, the devices could be put into use July 1, 2010.

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2008/09/22/features/features02.txt