In honor of the fact that many people celebrate Memorial Day by goofing off and drinking, the Maui Police Department will be “enhancing”–their word–their efforts at stopping drinking and driving this holiday weekened.
“The DUI Task Force Unit will be conducting several Intoxication Control Checkpoints at various locations throughout our county,” said MPD Sgt. Nick Krau of the department’s Traffic Section in a May 18 MPD news release. “The enforcement of Speed Limit, Distracted Driver (Cell Phone), and Seat Belt laws will also be increased as a part of this campaign.”
The news release is dramatic, to say the least. “The unfortunate truth is this: many people might be making plans for Memorial Day, but they aren’t planning ahead about returning home,” Krau said in the press release. “If you don’t designate a sober driver ahead of time or have a solid plan for how you’ll get home safely, you are setting yourself up for disaster.”
Of course, in terms of traffic fatalities, this year’s actually looking quite good.
“So far this year Maui County has suffered the loss of 4 lives due to traffic fatalities as compared to 13 at this same time last year (2014),” Krau said in the news release. “Although, this is a reduction of nearly 70% in traffic fatalities as compared to this same time last year, we are far from reaching our goal of zero preventable traffic related deaths.”