STAND. COM. REP. NO. 33

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 613

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 613 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PENALTIES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to enhance the penalties for a conviction of operating a vehicle after license and privilege have been suspended or revoked for operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation; Honolulu Police Department; County of Kauai, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney; Hawaii Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving; and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that many drivers continue to drive after conviction of operating a vehicle after license and privilege have been suspended or revoked for operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that more than half of drivers whose licenses have been revoked for operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant continue to drive illegally.  This represents a substantial and unjustifiable risk to everyone on our roadways.

 

     Increasing the penalties will create a stronger deterrent to discourage these violators from driving after their license has been suspended or revoked.

 

     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 S.B. No. 613 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair