STAND. COM. REP. NO.2770

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 411

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 411, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purposes of this measure are to require the Department of Public Safety (PSD) to compile statistics on whether distracting activities contribute to vehicular accidents, to prohibit county governments from regulating drivers engaging in distracting activities, and to provide criminal penalties for engaging in a distracting activity while driving.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Sprint Communication Company, AT&T Wireless Services, VoiceStream Wireless, and Verizon Wireless. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the PSD. The City and County of Honolulu Police Department (HPD) testified orally in opposition to this measure.

Your Committees find that, now more than ever before, drivers are multitasking behind the wheel and engaging in a myriad of various activities while driving. This leads to a dangerous situation, because a distracted driver is less aware and less able to respond to events on the roadway.

It is all too common to see people driving on the highways while talking on the phone, eating, drinking, applying cosmetics, yelling at their children, or engaging in another activity that detracts from their attention to the roadway.

Therefore, your Committees support this measure, which will reduce the number of distracted drivers on the roadway.

Your Committees amended this measure based on some concerns raised by the testimony submitted. First, your Committees amended this measure to require the Department of Transportation, rather than PSD, to compile the data for submission to the Governor and Legislature. PSD testified that it lacks the resources to compile a report.

In addition, your Committees amended this measure based on the oral testimony of the HPD to delete the section that would have prohibited counties from enacting ordinances to regulate distracted drivers.

Finally, your Committees delayed the effective date of this measure until January 1, 2050, for purposes of discussion.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 411, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 411, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations and Tourism and Intergovernmental Affairs and Judiciary,

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair

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CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair

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BRIAN KANNO, Chair