STAND. COM. REP. NO. 881

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 660
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
660 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
     OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to impose a mandatory minimum consecutive jail sentence and a
$500 fine, in addition to penalties already provided by law, for
persons who commit the offense of driving under the influence of
intoxicating liquor while having a passenger less than 18 years
old in the motor vehicle.

     Your Committee finds that increasing the penalty for driving
under the influence with a child passenger will be a deterrent to
doing so, and will thus increase highway safety for children.
However, the measure as drafted includes not only children but
teenage passengers.  In addition, your Committee notes that the
measure, as drafted, could result in jail sentences of greater
than thirty days and potentially trigger the right to a jury
trial.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Department of Transportation, the Department of the Prosecuting
Attorney for the County of Maui, the Honolulu Police Department,
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Keiki Injury Prevention
Coalition, and Hawaii Youth In Action.  Testimony in opposition

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 881
                                   Page 2


to this measure was submitted by the Office of the Public
Defender.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Narrowing the application of this measure to drivers 18
          years old and over and passengers 12 years old and
          under;

     (2)  Deleting the additional jail time imposed by this
          measure to avoid triggering the right to a jury trial;
          and

     (3)  Amending the preamble to reflect the changes made.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
660, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading
in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 660, S.D. 1.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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