STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3059

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1747

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Transportation and Energy and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1747, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize a police officer citing or arresting a driver, who is operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant or who is under the age of twenty-one while operating a vehicle after consuming a measurable amount of alcohol, to have the motor vehicle towed.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Transportation and Honolulu Police Department.

 

     Your Committees find that allowing police officers to tow and impound a motor vehicle if the operator of that motor vehicle is arrested or cited for certain serious traffic offenses may act as a deterrent to these types of activities and make Hawaii's roadways safer.  Traffic safety is a serious issue.  Numerous drivers are cited each year for operating a vehicle without a license, operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked license, and operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant, to name a few.  Unfortunately, many of these drivers continue to operate their motor vehicles immediately after receiving these citations.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Reverting back to H.B. No. 1747, which expands the types of offenses for which a police officer may cause a vehicle to be towed, on the recommendation of the Honolulu Police Department;

 

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2030 to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Energy and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1747, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1747, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Energy and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

 

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

 

________________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair