The number of DUI cases is up on Oahu, according to statistics. KITV4s Shanila Kabir digs deeper into why this is happening.
HONOLULU (KITV4) - The number of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) cases is up on Oahu, according to statistics from the state judiciary.
The numbers show felony DUIs have essentially tripled since 2018.
Numbers that were less than 10 are now around 50 with a spike in 2021 – when the number of DUI felonies reached a high of 73.
A DUI is considered a felony if the driver causes injury or death, if the blood alcohol content is around double the legal limit, and if the driver has prior DUI convictions.
"Several years ago, the law was changed. A felony DUI is now three times within ten years. It used to be four times so the net is a lot wider being a larger number of people where this is their third one in ten years," said DUI attorney Kevin O’Grady.
DUI misdemeanors have steadily gone down from more than 6,000 to now around 3,320. Misdemeanor charges are typically for first time offenders.
"I have seen the number of calls coming into our office drop in 2022 a lot. My feeling is police officers are not arresting nearly as many people. There may be the prosecutor office who is not charging as many people," said O’Grady.
HPD said it continues to enforce the DUI laws.
"Post COVID, we tried to step up our enforcement efforts by utilizing funding from federal grants to do sobriety checkpoints and increase saturation DUI patrols," HPD sergeant Thomas Billins.
Sargeant Billins adds the number of arrests go both up and down over time.
Around 1 in 10 drivers are impaired nationwide.
Honolulu Police said now that we are in graduation season, there will be more efforts and officers on the road to make sure everyone is safe.
