Police gearing up for
Labor Day DUIs

HPD will use a variety of methods
to reduce deaths and accidents

Honolulu police will use reward and punishment to encourage motorists to drive sober this Labor Day weekend.

Police plan to use a variety of special and regular programs to reduce the number of fatalities in drunken-driving accidents. Last year, 72 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes in Hawaii, up 53 percent from 2002.

One such program is the "Saturation Patrol," which also takes aim at racing and speeding. If a district has a particular problem, police will request other districts to contribute personnel for one evening to saturate the area with intense enforcement, said Maj. Doug Miller, of the Honolulu Police Department's Traffic Division.

Police also will continue to patrol the streets and highways in unmarked cars for drunk drivers. HPD's Traffic Division uses a team of officers dedicated to looking for drivers who are either impaired, racing or speeding.

This weekend, Mother's Against Drunk Driving and police will hand out free watermelons, courtesy of MADD and Foodland Super Markets, at an undisclosed sobriety checkpoint to safe drivers who are buckled up.

"Think ahead and plan ahead," encouraged spokeswoman Carol McNamee, of MADD Hawaii. She said to plan alternatives such as having a designated driver.

About 30 nightclubs, bars and restaurants are participating this weekend in the Department of Transportation's D2 (or D-squared) campaign, in which the establishment offers free nonalcoholic drinks and other rewards to designated drivers.