STAND. COM. REP. NO. 431

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 889

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B. No. 889 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHWAY SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to promote highway safety. Among other things, this bill:

(1) Requires drivers of trucks, truck-tractors, truck-trailer combinations, tractor-semitrailer combinations, or house trailers that have recapped tire blowouts on a highway to report the incident to the State Department of Transportation (DOT) within one hour;

(2) Allows for an individual other than the driver of a truck, truck-tractor, truck-trailer combination, tractor-semitrailer combination, or house trailer to report a recapped tire blowout to DOT; and

(3) Provides for fines for failure to report a recapped tire blowout.

A concerned individual testified in support of this measure. DOT supported the intent of this bill. The Hawaii Transportation Association opposed this measure.

Your Committee finds that large trucks that have recapped tire blowouts leave debris on public highways and roadways creating hazardous driving conditions. Prompt reporting of these incidents will allow for quicker removal of debris thereby increasing highway and roadway safety.

However, your Committee understands the concerns of HTA that one hour may not be adequate time for reporting a blowout since a driver may not always know a blowout has occurred on his vehicle. Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Allowing a driver to report a blowout to the highways division of DOT within four hours of the blowout;

(2) Requiring DOT to notify the county police department in the county in which the blowout occurred if a driver does not notify DOT within four hours of a blowout, in cases where a blowout is reported by a person other than a driver; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 889, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 889, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

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

 

____________________________

JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair