REPORT TITLE:
Driver Licensing


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes driving curfew for all minors under eighteen, with
exceptions; authorizes DOT to require behind-the-wheel driving
training for driver's license applicants; requires a driver
education course for permit applicants; and authorizes license
revocation for minors for certain traffic violations.  (SD1)


 
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                                                        1169
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO DRIVER'S LICENSING.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 286, part VI, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
 
 2 is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated
 
 3 and to read as follows:
 
 4      "§286-    Driving curfew for minors.  All drivers under the
 
 5 age of eighteen, including drivers of mopeds, motorcycles, and
 
 6 motor scooters, may operate a motor vehicle between the hours of
 
 7 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. only when:
 
 8      (1)  Accompanied by a licensed driver over the age of
 
 9           twenty-one;
 
10      (2)  Operation of a vehicle by a minor is necessary for
 
11           employment purposes and transportation facilities are
 
12           unavailable; provided that the person shall keep in the
 
13           person's possession a signed statement from the
 
14           employer, verifying employment;
 
15      (3)  The person's school attendance or school authorized
 
16           activities necessitate operation of a motor vehicle and
 
17           reasonable transportation facilities are unavailable;
 
18           provided that the person shall keep in the person's
 
19           possession a signed statement from a parent or legal
 

 
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 1           guardian verifying the necessity; or
 
 2      (4)  The person is an emancipated minor.
 
 3 The signed statement must be carried by the driver when driving
 
 4 during curfew hours and cannot be submitted after the fact.
 
 5 Violation of this section shall be considered a moving traffic
 
 6 infraction as defined in section 291D-2 and violators shall be
 
 7 penalized in accordance with section 286-124."
 
 8      SECTION 2.  Section 286-108, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended to read as follows:
 
10      "§286-108  Examination of applicants.(a)  Except as
 
11 provided in section 286-107.5(a), the examiner of drivers shall
 
12 examine every applicant for a driver's license, except as
 
13 otherwise provided in this part.  The examination shall include a
 
14 test of:
 
15      (1)  The applicant's eyesight and any further physical
 
16           examination [as] that the examiner of drivers finds
 
17           necessary to determine the applicant's fitness to
 
18           operate a motor vehicle safely upon the highways;
 
19      (2)  The applicant's ability to understand highway signs
 
20           regulating, warning, and directing traffic; provided
 
21           that this requirement shall be substituted at the
 
22           discretion of the examiner of drivers by the
 
23           requirements of subsection (b);
 

 
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 1      (3)  The applicant's knowledge of the rules of the road
 
 2           based on the traffic laws of the State and the traffic
 
 3           ordinances of the county where the applicant resides or
 
 4           intends to operate a motor vehicle; provided that this
 
 5           requirement shall be substituted at the discretion of
 
 6           the examiner of drivers by the requirements of
 
 7           subsection (b); and
 
 8      (4)  The actual demonstration of ability to exercise
 
 9           ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a
 
10           motor vehicle[.]; provided that this requirement shall
 
11           be substituted at the discretion of the examiner of
 
12           drivers by the requirements of subsection (b).
 
13 The examinations shall be appropriate to the operation of the
 
14 category of motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks to be
 
15 licensed and shall be conducted as required by the director.
 
16      The examiner of drivers may waive the actual demonstration
 
17 of ability to operate a motorcycle or motor scooter for any
 
18 person who furnishes evidence, to the satisfaction of the
 
19 examiner of drivers, that the person has completed the motorcycle
 
20 education course approved by the director in accordance with
 
21 section 431:10G-104.
 
22      At the time of examination, an application for voter
 
23 registration by mail shall be made available to every applicant
 

 
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 1 for a driver's license.
 
 2      For the purposes of this section, the term "applicant" does
 
 3 not include any person reactivating a license under section
 
 4 286-107.5(a).
 
 5      (b)  the examiner of drivers shall require proof that the
 
 6 applicant has completed a behind-the-wheel driver training course
 
 7 certified by the director of transportation.
 
 8      [(b)] (c)  Except as provided in subsection (c), the
 
 9 examiner of drivers shall not examine any applicant for a
 
10 driver's license who is fifteen through seventeen years of age
 
11 unless the applicant holds a valid instruction permit under
 
12 section 286-110, for a period of no fewer than ninety days.
 
13      [(c)] (d)  The examiner of drivers may waive the actual
 
14 demonstration of ability to operate a motor vehicle for any
 
15 person who is at least eighteen years of age and who possesses a
 
16 valid driver's license issued to the applicant in any other state
 
17 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
 
18 of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, a province of the Dominion
 
19 of Canada, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
 
20 for the operation of vehicles in categories 1 through 3 of
 
21 section 286-102.
 
22      (d)  As part of the examination required by this section,
 
23 the applicant for a driver's license shall produce and display a
 

 
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 1 valid motor vehicle or liability insurance identification card
 
 2 for the motor vehicle required by sections 431:10C-107 and
 
 3 431:10G-106, when the applicant demonstrates the ability to
 
 4 operate a motor vehicle to the satisfaction of the examiner of
 
 5 drivers.  If no valid motor vehicle or liability insurance
 
 6 identification card is displayed, the examiner of drivers shall
 
 7 not issue a driver's license to the applicant."
 
 8      SECTION 3.  Section 286-110, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
10      "(b) The examiner of drivers shall examine every applicant
 
11 for an instruction permit.  Prior to examination, the examiner of
 
12 drivers shall be provided with proof that the applicant has
 
13 completed a driver education course certificated by the director
 
14 of transportation.  The examination shall include tests of the
 
15 applicant's[:
 
16      (1)  Eyesight] eyesight and other physical or mental
 
17           capabilities to determine if the applicant is capable
 
18           of operating a motor vehicle[;
 
19      (2)  Understanding of highway regulations, warning, and
 
20           directing traffic; and
 
21      (3)  Knowledge of the traffic laws, ordinances, or
 
22           regulations of the State and the county where the
 
23           applicant resides or intends to operate a motor
 

 
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 1           vehicle]."
 
 2      SECTION 4.  Section 286-124, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 3 amended to read as follows:
 
 4      "§286-124  Mandatory revocation of license by a court.  (a)
 
 5 Any court of competent jurisdiction shall forthwith revoke the
 
 6 license of any driver upon a conviction of the driver of
 
 7 manslaughter resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle.
 
 8      (b)  Notwithstanding section 286-104 to the contrary, a
 
 9 court of competent jurisdiction shall revoke the license of any
 
10 driver under the age of eighteen at the time of the offense, who
 
11 is convicted of or found to have committed, whether by
 
12 adjudication or default, a violation of this part or any traffic
 
13 law or regulation of the State or any political subdivision
 
14 thereof, relating to traffic movement and control, including all
 
15 traffic infractions as defined in section 291D-2, with the
 
16 exception of parking, standing, and equipment offenses and
 
17 offenses by pedestrians, for the following periods:
 
18      (1)  Six months for the first offense, or the revocation
 
19           period specified for the offense whichever is greater;
 
20           and
 
21      (2)  One year for the second or subsequent offense or the
 
22           revocation period specified for the offense, whichever
 
23           is greater.
 

 
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 1 At the conclusion of the revocation, the driver must comply with
 
 2 all requirements of part VI of chapter 286, in order to be issued
 
 3 a driver's license."
 
 4      SECTION 5.  Section 291D-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 5 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
 6      "(b)  The form for the notice of traffic infraction shall be
 
 7 prescribed by rules of the district court which shall be uniform
 
 8 throughout the State.  Except in the case of traffic infractions
 
 9 involving parking, the notice shall include the following:
 
10      (1)  A statement of the specific traffic infraction,
 
11           including a brief statement of facts, for which the
 
12           notice was issued;
 
13      (2)  A statement of the monetary assessment, established for
 
14           the particular traffic infraction, pursuant to section
 
15           291D-9, to be paid by the driver which shall be uniform
 
16           throughout the State;
 
17      (3)  A statement of the options provided in section
 
18           291D-6(b) for answering the notice and the procedures
 
19           necessary to exercise the options;
 
20      (4)  A statement that the person to whom the notice is
 
21           issued must answer, choosing one of the options
 
22           specified in section 291D-6(b), within fifteen days;
 
23      (5)  A statement that failure to answer the notice of
 

 
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 1           traffic infraction within fifteen days shall result in
 
 2           the entry of judgment by default for the State and a
 
 3           late penalty assessed and, if the driver fails to pay
 
 4           the monetary assessment within an additional thirty
 
 5           days or otherwise take action to set aside the default,
 
 6           notice to the director of finance of the appropriate
 
 7           county that the person to whom the notice was issued
 
 8           shall not be permitted to renew or obtain a driver's
 
 9           license or, where the notice was issued to a motor
 
10           vehicle, the registered owner will not be permitted to
 
11           register, renew the registration of, or transfer title
 
12           to the motor vehicle until the traffic infraction is
 
13           finally disposed of pursuant to this chapter;
 
14      (6)  A statement that, at a hearing to contest the notice of
 
15           traffic infraction conducted pursuant to section 291D-8
 
16           or in consideration of a written statement contesting
 
17           the notice of traffic infraction, no officer will be
 
18           present unless the driver timely requests the court to
 
19           have the officer present.  The standard of proof to be
 
20           applied by the court is whether a preponderance of the
 
21           evidence proves that the specified traffic infraction
 
22           was committed;
 
23      (7)  A statement that, at a hearing requested for the
 

 
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 1           purpose of explaining mitigating circumstances
 
 2           surrounding the commission of the infraction or in
 
 3           consideration of a written request for mitigation, the
 
 4           person will be considered to have committed the traffic
 
 5           infraction;
 
 6      (8)  A statement that a driver under the age of eighteen
 
 7           found to have committed, whether by adjudication or
 
 8           default, a traffic infraction, with the exception of
 
 9           parking, standing and equipment offenses, and offenses
 
10           by pedestrians, shall have the driver's license revoked
 
11           pursuant to section 286-124;
 
12     [(8)] (9)  A space in which the driver' signature, current
 
13           address, and driver's license number may be affixed;
 
14           and
 
15     [(9)] (10)  The date, time, and place at which the driver
 
16           must appear in court if the driver chooses to go to
 
17           hearing."
 
18      SECTION 6.  The director of transportation is directed to
 
19 establish and certify a statewide driver education program and
 
20 behind-the-wheel driver training program, to include the number
 
21 of course hours, curriculum, and certification of teachers and
 
22 third-party examiners.  The director of transportation is also
 
23 directed to set a cost for the programs to enable the programs to
 

 
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 1 be self-sufficient.  The director of transportation shall adopt
 
 2 rules pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, necessary
 
 3 for the purposes of this part.
 
 4      SECTION 7.  Anyone holding a learner's permit when this Act
 
 5 becomes effective is subject to this Act and must complete a
 
 6 behind-the-wheel driving course before obtaining a driver's
 
 7 license.  Anyone under the age of eighteen holding a driver's
 
 8 license at the time this Act becomes effective may retain the
 
 9 driver's license but is otherwise subject to this Act, including
 
10 the nighttime curfew.
 
11      SECTION 8.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
12 New statutory material is underscored.
 
13      SECTION 9.  This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2001.
 

 
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