STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2628

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2635
                                        




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
2635 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHWAYS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to extend the definition of
highway vending to include conduct that recklessly risks creating
a hazardous condition or public nuisance, and to lower the
penalty level for the offense from a misdemeanor to a petty
misdemeanor.

     Your Committee finds that roadside vendors may cause drivers
to suddenly pull off the road upon spotting a vendor on the
highway shoulder.  Your Committee further finds that the vehicles
pulling on and off the shoulder create a hazard, and the presence
of a vendor keeps that part of the shoulder from being available
for breakdowns or other road safety purposes.  In the rural areas
where vending is common, a driver may need to swerve onto the
shoulder to avoid hitting a cow, only to find the shoulder
occupied by a vendor.  Even if the cow is o.k., the vendor's
presence was partly responsible for creating a hazardous
condition.

     Your Committee heard testimony from the Honolulu Police
Department that under current law, officers cannot charge a
vendor until the vendor has actually created a hazard.  Thus,
ironically, current law only allows law enforcement to penalize
successful vendors who attract vehicles onto the shoulder.  Your

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2628
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Committee believes the officers should be able to remove vendors
and charge them with highway vending before the hazardous
condition actually exists.  Your Committee further believes that
it will be easier for both law enforcement and for would-be
vendors to determine what part of the road and shoulder this
statute applies to using the new definition proposed by this
bill.  Your Committee agrees that reducing the offense to a petty
misdemeanor will result in more expeditious resolution of these
situations, as petty misdemeanor offenses are not eligible for
jury trials.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Department of Transportation, the Department of the Prosecuting
Attorney, City and County of Honolulu, and the Honolulu Police
Department.

     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.
2635 and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

                                   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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