HRS 0626-0001-0411 ANNOTATIONS

This rule is identical with Fed. R. Evid. 411. The virtual unanimity of judicial rejection of evidence that a party is or is not insured against liability is soundly based on both legal and policy considerations. Foremost among these is the question of relevance. The fact that a party to an action does or does not carry liability insurance provides no logical basis for an inference of negligence or lack of negligence. Of equal concern is the danger that knowledge of the existence or the lack of liability insurance coverage might bias the jurors and influence them to make a decision on irrelevant and improper grounds. See Carr v. Kinney, 41 H. 166, 176 (1955); Gilliam v. Gerhardt, 34 H. 466 (1938).