STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1113

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1549

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1549, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to require the police department of each county to establish a multidisciplinary accident investigation team for the purpose of investigating major accidents on roadways in the county in a manner that limits the length of time road closures are necessary for the data collection phase of the investigation, and to make an appropriation therefor to each county.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; The International Christian Church and Bible School, Inc.; Charley's Taxi; PHT, Inc. dba Polynesian Hospitality; Hawaii Highway Users Alliance; one State Representative; and two individuals.  Testimony in opposition was received from the Honolulu Police Department.

 

     Your Committee finds that traffic accident management is of utmost public importance, especially when a fatality occurs.  Although the evidence collected at traffic accident scenes may be crucial to determining the cause of the accident, these accident investigations proceed at a slower rate in Hawaii than in comparable metropolitan areas in the United States.

 

     Prolonged closures of traffic lanes adversely affect the public and our economy because students cannot reach school and school activities or return home afterwards; employees cannot reach their place of work or attend meetings at remote locations; and businesses cannot receive or deliver products necessary to do business.  These traffic jams also bode ill for the economy because tourists cannot expeditiously reach their destinations and may leave Hawaii without feeling that they have been on vacation at all.  Moreover, these prolonged investigative delays may result in secondary accidents that cause further delays.

 

     The California Highway Patrol, the Oregon State Police, the Washington State Patrol, the Utah Highway Patrol, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety use what is known as a multidisciplinary accident investigation team system that employs digital photography and other equipment that has reduced the duration of lane and road closures.  Multidisciplinary accident investigation teams use total station survey systems that employ laser technology to record specific reference points that are recorded in an on-board data collector.  Total station survey systems significantly accelerate data collection, thereby minimizing the time the roadway is closed and reducing the exposure of officers and civilian personnel to the inherent hazards of traffic congestion caused by roadway closures.  The data can then be downloaded into a computer-aided drawing program and printed in a large format.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, and making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1549, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1549, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 


Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and International Affairs,

 

 

 

____________________________

J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair