Alcohol-related traffic fatalities on the Big Island are up so far this year, and Hawai'i County police are intensifying efforts to curb impaired driving.

There have been 12 alcohol-related fatalities this year, compared with seven at this time last year. Drunken-driving arrests through Aug. 9 are about the same this year, 630, as they were last year, 631.

Drug-related traffic fatalities are down slightly: nine on the Big Island, compared with 11 at the same time last year, according to the Hawai'i County Police Department's Traffic Services Section.

Overall, there have been 20 traffic fatalities on the Big Island so far this year, compared with 25 for the same period last year.

Hawai'i County Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna said the department is putting more of an emphasis on drunken driving and traffic enforcement since officers have noticed a trend of drug users being more likely to drink and drive.

"A lot of the people that use illicit drugs are poly-drug users and alcohol shows up," Mahuna said yesterday.

Over the past 10 years, 52.9 percent of all motor vehicle-related fatalities on the Big Island involved alcohol, compared with 41.7 percent for Honolulu and a national average of 40 percent. Over the past five years, the Big Island has accounted for about 28 percent of all traffic deaths in Hawai'i, despite the fact that Big Island residents represent only 12 percent of the population.

Mahuna urged Big Island residents to exercise common sense and vigilance when driving. He said he knows that football season will create more opportunities to celebrate.

"If they are at their friend's house and having a few and watching 'Monday Night Football' make sure they have a designated driver or call a spouse," he said. "Be smart about it. It takes a very short period of time to do something very tragic, and we've seen some very tragic things happen."

Police say they face a tough challenge enforcing driving laws because large population centers are separated by isolated, dangerous stretches of highway.

Many roadways lack lighting and the island has many miles of undivided, high-speed highways. Many of the roads in rural areas cut through mountainsides, with little or no shoulders and steep cliffs that produce rockfalls.

Emergency medical service teams responding to rural roadway crashes often have to come from far away, extending the time before a victim receives first aid or hospital care.