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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0066.063 2004-2006 Ord OS-~jG OJNSY OF /rgwq Harry Kim ~ Lawrence K. Mahuna .Nnvor ~ Police Chief r Harry S. Kubojiri STp oF•HF~ Deputy Police Chief County of Hawaii POLICE DEPARTMENT 349 Kapiolani Street . Hilo, Hawaii 96720-3998 November 7, 2006 (808) 935-3311 Fax (808) 961.8869 f\S f.~:l TO SIGA, COUNCIL CHAIR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM ~ LA RENCE K. MAHUNA, POLICE CHIEF - r-~ a SUBJECT FINAL REPORT -9 Name of Grant Program: Roadblock Program ~ F, Federal or State Grantor: State Department of Transportation Public Affairs Office-Safe Community Program County Grantee DepartmenUAgency: County Police Department Grant No.: AL06-02(01-H-02) Amount of Grant: $102,700.00 Amount of County Match: None County Revenue & Expenditures Acct 010.201.5216.15, 3303.42 Grant Period: October 1, 2005 -September 30, 2006 Goals: See attached Objectives: See attached Outcomes: See attached Comm. No. ~ Ref. To: Ref. Uare Nf]V 15 20U6 SAFE COMMUI~`ITY HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAM QUARTERT_Y REPORT PROJECT TITLE: HCPD ROADBLOCK PROGRAM/AL06-OZ (O1-H-02) Priority Area: I Area: Alcohol Sobriety Checkpoints The goal of this program is to reduce the number of alcohol related traffic fatalities and injuries, to increase public awareness, and to provide a constant deterrence against drunk driving by conducting Impaired Driving Checkpoints on our highways. 1. Conduct 52/12 Impaired Driving Program 2. Establishing about 75 sobriety checkpoints with grant funds, establishing roadblocks on all holidays. 3. Affecting about 50 arrests for Impaired Driving at grant funded roadblocks. 4. Affecting about 50 arrests for other violations at grant funded checkpoints. 5. Issuing 250 citations for violations at grant funded checkpoints. 6. Screening an estimated 20,000 vehicles while on grant-funded checkpoints. 7. Purchasing 2 Intoxilyzer 5000 units for use by Traffic Enforcement Unit officers and patrol officers. 8. Implement Four day training session by CMI ]nc. personnel. Training to be on Intoxilyzer SOOOEN and 8000 units. Training to be made available to all county police departments. 9. Implement training and procedures for use of the Intoxilyzer 8000 in Hawaii County. 10. Attend Lifesavers traffic safety conference, Traffic Records Forum, annual Drug Impaired driving (DRE) Seminar and four quarterly Statewide Traffic Commanders Meetings. The Statewide Traffic Commanders Coalition has agreed that DUI deterrence and the use of sobriety checkpoints should be coordinated statewide. HCPD ROADBLOCK PKOGRAM PAGE 2 GRANT PERIOD RESULTS: (FINAL REPORT) • Established 29 sobriety checkpoints with grant funds during the fourth quarter. Checkpoints were established on all major holidays. Total of 124 grant funded sobriety checkpoints with grant funds established during fiscal year. • Initiated 23 arrests for Operating a Vehicle Under Che Influence of an Intoxicant (OVUII) at checkpoints during the fourth quarter • Total of 104 OVUII arrests with grant funds made during fiscal year. • Initiated 28 arrests for other violations at grant-funded checkpoints during the fourth quarter. Total of 148 arrests for other violations with grant funded checkpoints made during fiscal year. • Issued 4 seat belts, 0 child restraint and 37 other citations for violations at grant funded checkpoints in the fourth quarter. Total of 11 seatbelt, 6 child restraint and 371 other citations for violations issued at grant funded checkpoints during the fiscal year. • Screened 3,959 vehicles at grant-funded projects in the fourth quarter. Total of 18,464 vehicles screened at grant-funded projects during the fiscal year. • Ordered and received two Intoxilyzer 5000 units, but could not attend a four day training class for the Intoxilyzer 8000 and SOOOEN due to personnel shortages. Training conducted by CMI Inc. • Attended the National Lifesaver, Conference, Traffic Records Forum, and Statewide Traffic Commanders Meetings. Narrative Seven of ten performance indicators for grant funded projects were attained. Arrests for impaired driving and other violations, citations issued and the ordering of Intoxilyzers were all attained. Attendance to the National Traffic Records Forum to improve electronic data capture, and distribution of traffic records was attained. Attendance at Statewide Traffic Commanders meetings was attained. Attended the Lifesaver's National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities, but due to the untimely passing of our department's DRE Coordinator, no one attended the National Drug Recognition Expert's Conference. The training that was scheduled for the Intoxilyzers was done off Island by the State Department of Health and was in conflict with other scheduled training and events. Due to our manpower constraints, our department, along with Maui and Oahu, did not attend. We are awaiting procedural changes on the Intoxilyzer 8000 before implementing their use. The number of sobriety checkpoints conducted was attained. The total number of vehicles screened fell short of our goal of 20,000. This was due, in part, to staff shortages and change in Traffic Enforcement Unit personnel that made it difficult to provide officers on overtime status. Overall, our enforcement, deterrent and educational efforts resulted in 1,085 arrests for Impaired Driving on the big Island for the 2005 calendar year. In addition, 111 arrests for under 21 OVUII were made. The goal of this project was to reduce alcohol related traffic fatalities and injuries. We have reduced our alcohol related fatalities from 18 in 2005 to S in 2006. This is an overall decrease of 62% Refer to The Safety Coordinator's Report for additional photos, media releases and educational events pertainine to Impaired Drivine Enforcement and Education on the Big Island. HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT TRAFFIC SERVICES SECTION SERGEANT DEXTER VERIATO PHONE: 961-2305 AUGUST 29, 2006 MEDIA RELEASE Surviving relatives of victims killed by drunk drivers will make their presence known at some of the Police Department's DUI checkpoints over the Labor Day weekend, which runs from Friday, September 1, through Monday, September 4. They will wave posters and help police pass out fliers with information about the tragedies surrounding the loss of their loved ones. Theresa "Gigi" Macion lost both a brother and a sister to impaired drivers in separate crashes. Her brother, Officer Danny Padayao from the Honolulu Police Department, was killed by a drunk driver in 2001 while setting up flares to secure a traffic accident scene. Within weeks her sister, Miriam "Nani" Fernandez, was killed by an impaired driver on Queen Kaahumanu Highway. Both Macion and Sandra Todd will hand out fliers over the holiday weekend and appeal to the public not to drive after drinking alcohol or consuming drugs, including prescription medication. Todd's son, Steven Rapoza, died in a 1996 Hilo crash with a man who was under the influence of both alcohol and cocaine. In addition to the DUI checkpoints, police plan to assign officers to roving patrols to look for people driving under the influence. The efforts are part of a nationwide campaign called "Drunk Driving: Over the limit. Under Arrest." Big Island Police also plan to patrol public parks to look for both underage drinkers and adults who are too intoxicated to drive home. Jackie Murai, the Police Department's traffic safety coordinator, said many people don't realize how little alcohol it takes to impair someone's driving. "A lot of people think that to be arrested for a DUI you need to be wasted," she said. "It takes as few as two drinks to be over the legal limit of .08 percent." HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT TRAFFIC SERVICES SECTION SERGEANT DEXTER VERIATO PHONE: 961-2305 MARCH 3, 2006 MEDIA RELEASE The Hawaii County Impaired Driving Task Force reports that 50% of all traffic related deaths in 2005, involved a driver who had been drinking or on drugs. " Eight of those fatalities had both alcohol and drugs in their system at the time of the crash" ,says Jackie Murai, coordinator of the Impaired Driving Task Force. " Our mission is to work with the community to bring those numbers down" , says Murai. On average from 1988-2001, the alcohol related death rate in Hawaii County was almost 53%, while the national average was 40% and the State' s rate was 47%" . Sergeant Dexter Veriato of the Hawaii Police Department' s Traffic Services Section agrees with the task force. "Those numbers are disturbing, but the Impaired Driving Task Force has been doing a great job in meeting with the prosecutors and the medical community to find ways to improve the reporting and convictions of impaired drivers" . The Impaired Driving Task Force has also been conducting community meetings island wide to bring awareness to the problem and to seek help from the public to prevent further deaths. Last year police conducted 144 DUI checkpoints throughout the county, which was the highest number in the state. Nearly 20,000 vehicles were screened and there were 1,069 drivers who were arrested for operating their vehicles while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. We will continue with our sobriety checkpoints as part of the statewide 52-12 Program" said Sergeant Veriato. The 52-12 Program is part of the Nation wide " You Drink, You Drive, You Lose" Campaign, targeting impaired drivers. In 2005, Mayor Harry Kim established the Impaired Driving Task Force, consisting of county and state agencies, substance abuse agencies, driver education instructors, traffic safety advocates and concerned citizens. The goals of the task force are to develop strategies to increase awareness of the impaired driving problem and to reduce the number of impaired driving fatalities and injuries. The meetings are held island wide through videoconferencing and the public is welcome to attend. For more information, contact Jackie Murai at 961- 8879. ::'Printer Friendly Page 1 of 2 VV~st H~w~ui Tod1y ~ ~ .-Fi ~ Print Page lFi'ti~~ Ner;s from :ha Big is .jnd t 'Over the limit, under arrest' Ponce out in force this weekend by Betsy Tranquilli West Hawaii Today btranquilli@westhawaiitoday.com „ t,-~il~.,- ;nob ,.01 A:~n H5- .......z«.: a. If you see Waimea resident Theresa "Gigi" Macion on the a~ , street during Labor Day weekend, stop to talk to her. ~ 'x~ - ~a. `x'... What she tells you might save your life. . Macion will be out with traffic enforcement officers this weekend at DUI checkpoints so she can tell motorists about her brother and sister, both killed by drunken drivers in separate accidents within weeks of each other. She'll show you a picture of her brother, hand out a flyer A police officer talks with a driver at a DUI checkpoint in July 2005. Police about his life and stand before Ou as a livin reminder of will he out in extra force this holitlay weekend. -Betsy Tranquilli I West Y 9 Hawaii Today the devastation drunken driving can leave behind. "We'll be letting people know that it's not wise to drink and drive," Macion said. "It hurts a lot of people, not just the victims." In 2001, Macion's brother, Honolulu Police Officer Danny Padayao, was setting up flares to secure an accident scene when he was struck and killed by a drunken driver. His family had little time to grieve before Macion's sister, Miriar.t "Nani" Fernandez, was killed by a drunken driver on Queen Kaahumanu Highway nine weeks after Padayao's death. Since the devastating accidents, Macion has sought comfort from support groups run by Mothers Against Drunk Driving and used her grief to become an activist to try to spare other families from feeling the same kind of hurt her family experienced. "It really hit us hard twice, but doing this work has been helping me," Macion said. "Before, I would try to talk about it and I'd start crying before I could start. Now I can hold back a little. It's been helpful.... The police can only do so much. We have to watch out for each other." Police are stepping up DUI enforcement as part of a nationwide campaign called, "Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest." In addition to checkpoints, officers will also be conducting roving patrols looking for drunken drivers. The Crime Reduction Unit also will be patrolling the Alii Drive area over ti'.e weekend to look for public drinking, public intoxication and other illegal activity, Kona Patrol Capt. Paul Kealoha said. As the number of activities, such as the Queen Liliuokalani Canoe race, and visitors grows each year in Kona, Labor Day weekend has increasingly become one of the Police Department's busiest times, Kealoha said. In response, the department is doubling its watch strength for each shift today through Monday. The extra patrol will enable officers to do more work on DUIs and target certain areas prone to public nuisances or areas that will be congested with people, such as Alii Drive and the Kailua Pier. "It's the biggest holiday weekend for us every year. There is triple the amount of people in Kona than usual. Kona has become the destination in the state on Labor Day weekend," Kealoha said. "It's the weekend we worry about the most, so this year we want to be proactive rather than reactive to quell problems before they happen." Copyright ©West Hawaii Today, 1997 - 2004 Stephens Media Group Privacy Statement http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2006/09/01/local/loca101.prt 9/1/2006 ~ 5 k r t;E~ C~__ti ~ j• S ~ rv 4P _ut £G~ ; ~ t * • E ~ n ~ Py t' G.~ 2~ ~ L~ F ~ i , ,±:r:.,. III , _h';. I v { On the air with Ken Hupp of K-PUA with MADD Victim Advocate and mother of a Drunk Driving Fatality, Sandra Todd. 4 3 ~yj~ i Np~ly~Rt!'~Iea< 191SY 1 Of~'' ~a,l~~aP"~~ t ' ' LiJ?~'` a~. ~ ~ i~ ~ n iv1.f. t: R.... ...v' i ~ Ti kQ~`p'i -n`~il '.S.' r~ F' e SCR, ..fir'-5 ~ 'mm _ _ x n42~ ~ _ * ~ ~ _ i 4' y f ~ 3 ~ i ~ ~ ~ ifr ~ n +T E x ''~k' k+. ~ ~ _ ¢ phi 'f ii ' r ~ e t e. _ k'. .Gq_- Labor Day Roadblock at Waikoloa with "Gigi" Macion, passing ou[ refreshments and MADD ribbons to motorists. Macion lost both her brother and sister to drunk drivers. The Waikoloa project screened over 500 vehicles, not counting motorcycles. ~ Hbnohtlu Stir-Bulletin Page 1 of 2 T Article URL http://starbulletin.com/2 006 /0911 8/newslstory04. html 01996-2006 The Honolulu Star-Bulletin - ~ .,r sr - n,... ~~ar~'~~ulle~in Vol. 11, Issue 261 -Monday, September 18, 2006 Drivers pause to hear DUI tragedies Drunken-driving arrests are 22 percent higher on the Big Isle than at this time last year By Rod Thompson rthom pson@sta rbulleti n. com WAIKOLOA, Hawaii » West Hawaii resident Theresa "Gig P' Macion watched the shock across the faces of motorists as she told them how her brother, Honolulu police officer Danny Padayao, was killed by a drunken driver on Oahu in May 2001 followed nine weeks later by the death of her sister, Nani Fernandez, caused by a Big Island drunken driver. In Hilo, Sandra Todd told motorists how her son, Steve Rapoza, was killed by a drunken and drugged driver in 1996. "I'll never get over it. There's never any closure," Todd said. Todd and Macion told their stories at informational roadblocks in Hilo and Waikoloa over the Labor Day weekend. Waikoloa motorists were also given bottled water and pieces of watermelon. Despite past tragedies, new statistics are encouraging. Big Island drunken-driving arrests this year are up 22 percent compared with the same time last year. Traffic fatalities are about the same: 27 this year compared with 28 at this time last year. But alcohol was involved in only about a fourth of this year's fatalities, compared with about half in prior years. "I think we're doing pretty good," said Sgt. Dexter Veriato, in charge of police statistics. But he added, instead of drunken people dying, sober people are dying. Dr. Sharon Vitousek, who wrote a 2003 study of Big Island traffic deaths, was cautious about enforcement numbers. "Does this mean that it's working? I can't tell you for sure," she said. At least deaths are not rising. "We're flat while other counties are quite a bit higher," Vitousek said. Oahu traffic deaths through August were 65, compared with 53 at the same time last year. Maui was at 13, compared with eight last year. Kauai jumped to 11 from three last year. Still, the Big Island traffic death rate was about th. ee times higher than on Oahu when compared with population, Vitousek discovered in 2003. http://starbulletin.com/print/2005.php?fr=/2006/09/18/news/story04.htm1 9/18/2006 Honohllu Star-Bulletin Page 2 oft K? ~ Part of the problem is clogged roads, Veriato said. In 2003-2005 the island's population went up 5.5 percent, but the number of vehicles jumped 25 percent, he said. In 2005 there were 162,721 vehicles for 167,293 people. Veriato focused on alcohol. The Big Island was spending about $60,000 a year on drunken-driving roadblocks, he said. This year, police plowed through $37,000 in roadblock money in just four months, then ran out. Veriato got another federal-state grant for $40,000. Another problem nearly nullifies enforcement. In 2003, a typical year, there were 1,051 drunken- driving arrests but only 829 people charged and a mere 270 convicted. A major reason, Veriato said, is that people can demand atime-consuming blood test instead of a breath test. Suspects are released until test results come in, then arrest warrants are issued. Suspects simply disappear until the warrants expire, Veriato said. A multiagency Impaired Driving Task Force is looking into the problem. Some suspects might treat avoiding warrants like a game. Macion and Todd remind people the game can be deadly. Macion recalls the deaths of her brother and sister. "It turned my life upside down. It's still crazy," she said. Todd added, "If we save even one life, I'll be happy." Article URL: http://sta rbulletin.com/2006/09/'18lnews/story04.html ©'1996-2006 The Honolulu Star-Bulletin www sta rbuil2tin com http://starbulletin.com/print/2005.php?fx=/2006/09/18/news/story04.htm1 9/18/2006 1-jawaii Tribtme-Herald Hilo, Hawaii Page 1 of 2 1 1 ilJ~l 11/ ~~~Y ~ Herald Print Page ~i~ island police to crack down on bUl Enforcement up,raded for Labor Day s festivities L =1 - ~ .-.-ll£.ak by John Burnett `-~.,;„,=.-!s., Tribune-Herald Staff Writer ~ With Labor Day coming Monday, Sept. 4 ~ x.:= "*e~ and the revelry associated with the urn t _i""' unofficial end of summer police are ~~It increasing DUI roadblocks and enforcement islandwide. "We're going to be out there and for us, it's business as usual," said Sgt. Dexter Veriato Sgt. Christopher Galli of the Hawaii County Police Of the Traffic $efVICeS $eCtiOn. Until Depart;nent's Traffic Enforcement Unit, displays the Intoxilyzer 5000 EN, foreground, used to administer Sept. 4, we're going to intensify and we're intoxication tests at the Public safety suiiding. The unit going to try to reach some of those areas yields a printed readout after a subject breathes into a that we haven't been reaching to try to tube. Galli also holds an Intoximeter portable breath tester, catch that percentage of people who with its white mouthpiece attached. The unit is carried in habitudll drink and drive and Ut the field by both TEU and drug recognition expert officers. - Y p William Ing (Tribune-Herald everybody else in danger." Veriato said island police will take part in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's $11 million "Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest" advertising campaign targeting male drivers ages 21-34, the demographic with the highest percentage of drivers in fatal drunken driving collisions. "So far, all of the other counties and our county also are participating in this," he said. "But were taking it one step further. Rather than to target just the males within that age group, we don't discriminate we target everybody. "Basically, we'll be out there looking for drunk drivers again like how we usually do. To add to what we're doing is kind of tough, because we're leading the state in DUI roadblocks and enforcement. We've been pretty much No. 1 for the past couple of years, but we usually target West Hawaii and usually target places where people congregate and drink. We do park sweeps and we're still going to do that, of course. In addition to that, until Sept. 4, we're also going to publicize some of our roadblocks and maybe in conjunction with (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), we're going to dedicate a couple of those roadblocks to specific victims of drunk drivers and have the roadblock 'in memory of a certain person. "In West Hawaii, they have a very aggressive DUI enforcement campaign," Veriato continued. "We do surveys with people who have been arrested for DUI and as part of the survey, we try to determine what part of the island they live in or what district most of the DUIs come from. And West Hawaii seems to be prevalent because of the construction boom. And through our surveys and the statistics that we've been compiling through the Impaired Driving Task Force, it appears that males within the age of 20 to 35 who work in the construction business are pretty much prone to be the ones out there drinking alot and a lot of that comes from the West side. So that's one of the areas we're targeting based on statistics we're getting from the courts." Through Aug. 14, there were 746 DUI arrests on Big Island roads this year, compared with 610 during the same period last year, an increase of 22 percent. Kona had, by far, the largest number of DUI arrests, with 387. South Hilo was next with 187. There have been a total of 22 traffic fatalities so far http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2000~N8/17/local news/IocalOl.nrt >tnv~nnA r ljawaii Tribune-Nerald Hilo, Hawaii Page 2 oft this year, compared to 21 at this time last year. The increase in DUI arrests can be largely attributed to the departments "52-12" program, which calls for sobriety checkpoints all 52 weeks, 12 months of the year. "We're continuing 'S2-12' and in fact, we're way ahead of the other counties," Veriato explained. "As far as our program goes that says we need to do 52 roadblocks a year, this is August and so far, we've had over 70. We're pumping them out. Last year, we had 144 roadblocks islandwide. We're out there and we're doing our best to bring the alcohol-related traffic fatalities down." One component of the "Drunk Driving: Over [he Limit: Under Arrest" campaign calls for additional patrols targeting problem roads. "We're trying to get more enforcement up on Route 190 (Mamalahoa Highway), which is known as [he 'mauka road' in Kona," Veriato said. "That's always been a problem area with people speeding, drinking and using the mauka road instead of the (Queen Kaahumanu Highway). Also, we'll be looking at Route 130 (Keaau-Pahoa Highway) and possibly some other places in Puna, like Route 11 (Volcano Highway) by Mountain View, places like [hat. Enforcement in Kailua•Kona is always there. The guys are always out in that area, but we'd kind of like to branch out and catch the more rural roads." Veriato disagrees with critics of DUI roadblocks, who contend that those caught are mainly people who have a drink or two with dinner, while problem drinkers know where checkpoints are and are able to avoid them. "I would think that criticism is kind of unfair because I think we've been catching the people we've been pretty much out to catch," he concluded. "It's just that there's a lot of them and there are a lot of people who do it more than once. We have a lot of repeat offenders who get arrested and somewhere down the line, in a year or two, they get arrested again. For us, it's a combination of education and enforcement, also. We're out there trying to educate the public and trying to tell them 'hey, we're out there, so get a designated driver or catch a cab or find another alternative to driving." John Burnett can be reached at jburnettC>hawaiitribune-herald.com. All rights reserved. Copyright ©2006 Hawaii Tribune Herald. Content on this site may not be archived, retransmitted, saved in a database, or used for any commercial purpose without the express written permission of Hawaii Tribune Herald. Close Window [x] httn://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2006~~8/17/local news/hr,alfll .,,~r a/i~/~nnc Honolulu Star-Bulletin Page 1 of 2 Article URL http /IStarbulletin.com/2006/06I20Inews/story07. html © 1996-2006 The Honolulu Star-Bulletin www starbulletin com ~~ar='==~u~le~in Vol. 11, Issue 171 -Tuesday, June 20, 2006 New laws get tough on drinking Star-Bulletin staff city deskiastarbuiletin.com Police in Hawaii have three new weapons in the fight against drunken drivers and underage drinkers. Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, standing in for Gov. Linda Lingle, who is on the mainland, signed into law yesterday three measures to increase the penalties for drunken drivers and for anyone under 21 who drinks, buys or possesses alcohol. "As parents and as community leaders, we can no longer view underage drinking as a minor infraction or'rite of passage' for our teens," Aiona said. "By condoning underage drinking, we are sanctioning illegal behavior and perpetuating a destructive cycle for our youth." The first measure, House Bill 2639, adds the designation of "highly intoxicated driver" to the list of drunken-driving offenses. Under the new law, a driver with ablood-alcohol level above 0.15 will be considered "highly intoxicated." Violators will automatically lose their license for six months without the chance to get a conditional driving permit. The current legal blood-alcohol level is 0.08. The measure goes into effect July 1, 2007. A second law, House Bill 3242, adjusts the underage-drinking law by adding "consumption" and "ingestion" of alcohol to the list of prohibited activities for those under 21. Aiona said the "new law will make it possible for law enforcement officers to address situations where a person under 21 has illegally consumed alcohol but is not caught possessing or purchasing it." Those under 18 will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Family Court, and those between 18 and 21 may be charged with a petty misdemeanor. The new law takes effect immediately. And finally, Aiona also signed into law Senate Bil! 706, dubbed the "use and lose" law. It would suspend the driver's license of those under 21 who illegally purchase, possess or consume alcohol for half a year. Violators who do not alreaoy have a license could have their eligibility postponed for 180 days or until they turn 17 years old. All violators under the law will be required to complete 75 hours of community service and attend up to 12 hours of alcohol counseling. "The 'use and lose' law makes it very clear to teens that if they are underage and they drink, they will lose their driver's license and the freedom tha, comes along with it," Aiona said. The law goes httn//starhulletin.com/print/2005.nhn?fr=/2006/06/20/news/story07.htm1 6/20/2006 I~onolutu Star-Bulletin Page 2 of 2 into effect Jan. 1. Tougher penalties for illegal drinking Under three bills signed into law yesterday.' » Drivers with ablood-alcohol level of 0.15 or higher will be classified as "highly intoxicated" and automatically have their driver's licenses and registrations suspended. Effective: July 1, 2007. » "Consumption" and "ingestion" of alcohol are added to the list of prohibitions for those under 21. State statutes had previously outlawed only "purchasing" and "possessing" alcohol. Effective: immediately. » Any person under 21 who illegally purchases, possesses or consumes alcohol will lose the right to drive for at least 180 days. Violators who do not already have a license could have their eligibility postponed for 180 days or until they turn 17 years old. Effective: Jan. 1. Associated Press Star-Bulletin reporter Richard Borreca and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Article URL http://starbulletin.com/2006/06/20/news/story07. html © 1996-2006 The Honolulu Star-Bulletin www starbulletin.com htt„•//etarhnllr tin rnm/nri nt/7(1(15 nhn9fr=/7(1OFi/(1Fi/2(1/newt/atnrv(17.html Fi/fin/70O(i