Hawaii lawmakers are considering lowering the state’s legal blood alcohol limit for drivers — a shift supporters say could save lives, but critics argue would do little to stop impaired drivers from driving.

Senate Bill 2463, which recently crossed over to the House, would redefine “under the influence” in state law by lowering the threshold of blood alcohol concentration for drivers from 0.08 to 0.05. If approved, Hawaii would become just the second state, after Utah, to adopt a stricter limit than the national standard. A similar Senate bill also crossed over into the House but failed to become law in 2024.

While state transportation officials and traffic safety advocates say the proposal could reduce alcohol-related crashes, reactions among the public are mixed.

At Murphy’s Bar and Grill in downtown Honolulu on Tuesday, where customers packed in for a St. Patrick’s Day lunch and the sound of clinking glasses filled the room, patrons expressed skepticism that lowering the legal blood alcohol limit would achieve its stated goal.

The consensus among Murphy’s customers who spoke to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser was that lowering the legal threshold would make little difference in reducing impaired driving crashes. Several believe crashes typically involve highly impaired drivers, not those who consumed one drink or two.

Kari Carolan, who stood with a beer at the bar among other Murphy’s St. Patrick’s Day customers, said, “The people who are going to be driving over the 0.08 are going to be doing it regardless.”

Carolan, a 50-year-old program manager, believes lowering the limit would likely have little effect on those who already drive impaired.

“People are going to do what people are going to do, you know?” she said.

Carolan also believes that lowering the threshold will not help reduce the number of drunken driving fatalities.

Other patrons, like houshawna Laanrui-­Wilcox, a Chinatown resident, agreed.

“Once you consume, you should stay at home,” she said.

Jamelia Jones — a 32-year-old overnight grocery stocker from Kaneohe — doesn’t drink but said responsibility matters more than the legal limit.

“I think the current law is fine,” she said.

Jones believes individuals should understand their own limits rather than rely on stricter laws.

“One drink could affect someone a lot differently than someone else,” Jones said, “so I think it’s just (that) people need to be responsible.”

Colby Sims, a 39-year-old merchant mariner from Kapolei, who was drinking beers with his friends at Murphy’s, said he usually takes Ubers to prevent drinking and driving.

“I feel like you should be able to drink a little bit and drive,” Sims said.

Rather than lower the threshold, Sims said the state should “be more focused on not arresting sober drivers to make their quota … because either way the people will still get arrested with the law change.”

Tanner Young — a 23 year old from Georgia now stationed on Oahu with the Coast Guard — also works as a bouncer for bars on the weekends.

At his bar job, Young said he regularly sees drunk people but said he rarely sees them get into their vehicles to drive after leaving the bar.

“I don’t know if 0.05 is going to change anything,” Young said.

Stricter limits could raise awareness, he said, but people will continue to make their own decisions.

“At the end of the day, if you drank, just get an Uber,” Young said.

Young was not opposed to the idea of lowering the threshold, but said he does not believe it will help.

“I think even if there was a law that said nobody could drink, people would still drink,” Young said.

Don Murphy, who owns Murphy’s Bar and Grill, said the proposal may hurt his business.

“It’s not going to help business, that’s for sure,” Murphy said.

While Murphy supports preventing impaired driving, he questions whether lowering the limit will make a difference.

“I just don’t think that that’s going to be that big of a deterrent,” Murphy said.

The state Department of Transportation was among the supporters who submitted written testimony in support of SB 2643, saying the change could improve road safety and reduce alcohol-related crashes.

“Lowering the per se limit to 0.05 is supported by compelling evidence,” the department wrote.

DOT cited research that estimated an 11.1% decline in fatal alcohol-related crashed when BAC limits are reduced to 0.05 or lower.

The department also wrote that impaired driving accounts for about one-third of traffic deaths in Hawaii, averaging 34 fatalities annually from 2020 and 2024.

“It aims to separate the acts of drinking and driving to enhance road safety for all users,” DOT wrote.

Opponents, including the Office of the Public Defender, argue the measure is unnecessary and could strain the legal system.

“There is nothing to prevent the police to arrest a person … whose BAC level is under 0.08%,” the office wrote in testimony.

The Public Defender also warned that the bill could criminalize responsible drinkers and increase workloads for police and courts.

“This group of law-abiding drivers will constitute a new class of criminals under this proposed law,” the office wrote.

Murphy said the focus should be on public awareness, not just legal limits.

“They’ve got to do a better job of finding different ways to promote not drinking and driving,” he said.

Men’s Basketball

March 19, 2026

Arkansas vs. Hawaii – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights

March 19, 2026

Watch the highlights from No. 4 Arkansas and No. 13 Hawaii’s matchup in the first round of the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament.

PORTLAND, Ore. >> It will be a clash of polar opposites today in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region in the Moda Center.

Arkansas is champion of the nation’s best college basketball conference. The SEC received 10 of the 68 berths in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

For the last time, Hawaii is representing the one-bid Big West. The Rainbow Warriors leave for the Mountain West on July 1.

According to Pete Nakos of On3.com, the Razorbacks had up to $10 million to spend on their roster. With fundraisers and sofa searches, the ’Bows’ are believed to have a $1.2 million roster.

Freshman point guard Darius Acuff Jr., the SEC’s Player of the Year, was a 5-star prospect and McDonald’s All-American as a high school senior. UH’s best player, 7-foot center Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson, was an Eagle Scout.

Per The Sporting News, Arkansas is paying Hall of Fame coach John Calipari $8.5 million per year on a five-year contract he signed in 2025. UH’s Eran Ganot has a month remaining on a contract that pays $330,000 annually.

Calipari led Kentucky to the Final Four four times and UMass twice. This is the ’Bows’ first NCAA appearance since 2016, Ganot’s first season as UH head coach.

So, why are the ’Bows not blinking?

“Hawaii hasn’t been here in 10 years,” captain Harry Rouhliadeff said. “For us to bring this school, like, to the big stage in college basketball means everything to us. We’re not going to go out without a fight. We’re going to keep playing the same way for 40 minutes. It’s the testament of our team. We’ve got a lot of guys that don’t quit, really stick it out.”

Point guard Hunter Erickson noted the ’Bows were steeled knowing there was only one path to an NCAA berth. No matter their record, the 24-8 ’Bows were not going to receive an at-large berth.

“Being a mid-major, the route we have to take is tougher than what high-major programs have,” Erickson said. “No matter how we play during the year, we have to come out and win the conference tournament. I think the journey we have here is harder. That’s something we can hang our hat on.”

At Kentucky, Calipari mastered the tactic of employing one-and-done players. At Arkansas, Calipari did not hesitate in entrusting his offensive juggernaut to freshmen Acuff and Maleek Thomas.

“I’ve started five freshmen one year (at Kentucky), and we got to a Final Four, as a matter of fact, a final game,” Calipari said. “This year, we’re starting two freshmen. We’re going to play the best players.”

Acuff is second nationally in scoring at 22.9 per game while averaging 6.5 assists. Thomas is averaging 15.4 points. While both prefer to attack the rim off ball screens or ankle-breaking handles, they can hit 3s when needed — 43.7% for Acuff, 42.5% for Thomas.

That leaves defenders in multiple-choice options. UH posts Johnson, Rouhliadeff and Gytis Nemeiksa have to move laterally on help defense to challenge drives without fouling and deter 6-10 Trevon Brazile from sneaking across the backside for lobs. Brazile, who has a 42 1/2-inch vertical jump, averages 7.3 rebounds.

“Know where (Brazile) is on the floor, not let him get free lanes,” Johnson said. “He’s an amazing player. He’s got some crazy highlights. We’re going to do our best to limit that and not get frazzled by his verticality and the type of athlete that he is. Two points is two points at the end of the day.”

The Razorbacks average 90.1. points on 50% shooting. They are second nationally with 19.1 fastbreak points per game while allowing an average of 9.7. They lead the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio of plus-1.89.

The Razorbacks’ only meh quality is on the boards. They rank 241st out of 365 Division I teams with a defensive rebounding efficiency of 79.3%. The ’Bows are 11th at 77.2%. UH also limits opposing 3-point shooters to 30.4% accuracy. The ’Bows have made more orbits around the sun (average age was 23 years, three months when the season started).

Asked to name a team asset, Johnson said, “the maturity level of our guys. One of the things not taken into account is there’s a reason NBA teams pay to keep veterans around even if they’re not super performing on the court.”

UH wing Quandre “Dre” Bullock said: “I feel our experience is going to be to our advantage. Arkansas’ got a lot of good players, but most of them are freshmen and sophomores, a lot of young guys. Our guys are a lot older, a lot of experience.”

Calipari said the Razorbacks have played against older teams.

“It’s harder,” he said. “They’ve been through the wars. There’s things that they have experienced that an 18-year-old has not experienced. … Part of it is the NCAA Tournament because this is different. This is one game. You play bad, you lose.”

Last June, combo guard Isaiah Kerr transferred to UH from Division II Chico State. This was his first opportunity to contend for an NCAA Division I berth.

“I’ve been working for this moment, I guess, for a lot of my basketball career,” Kerr said. “I’m finally in it. Everyone on our team lives for moments like this. You can’t go into it with the mindset of, ‘Oh, we’re a lower seed so it’s going to be harder.’ We go in with ‘once that ball tips up, we’re just playing basketball, which we’ve done our whole lives. It’s a great opportunity to play against Acuff. It’s a great challenge. I’m excited.”

[Image of NCAA March Madness Bracket]