HB830 SD2

Report Title:

Motor Vehicle Driver Licensing

Description:

Requires all drivers under age eighteen to be accompanied by a licensed driver over age twenty-one when driving between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Delays to January 1, 2003, the requirement that drivers under eighteen years old graduate from a department of transportation certified driver education program and behind-the-wheel training course prior to testing for a license. (SD2)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	830
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to driver licensing.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 286, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§286- Night driving provisions for licensed drivers under eighteen years of age. (a) A person who is under eighteen years of age and who has been granted a license pursuant to sections 286-108 and 286-109, whenever driving between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., shall be accompanied in the motor vehicle at all times by another person who is at least twenty-one years of age and who is licensed to operate the category of motor vehicles that is being operated.

(b) A person with a license but who is under eighteen years of age may drive between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. or transport an immediate family member without being accompanied and supervised by a licensed driver who is the person's parent or guardian, or a licensed driver who is at least twenty-one years of age, in the following circumstances:

(1) To attend school or school authorized activities when reasonable transportation facilities are inadequate and operation of a vehicle by the person is necessary as verified in a signed statement from a parent or legal guardian that shall be kept in the person's possession while operating the vehicle;

(2) For employment purposes when reasonable transportation facilities are inadequate and operation of a vehicle by the person is necessary as verified in a signed statement from the employer that shall be kept in the person's possession while operating the vehicle; or

(3) Where the person is an emancipated minor.

The signed statement required pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) shall contain the current names and phone numbers of the parents or employment supervisor of the licensed driver, as applicable. The licensed driver shall produce the signed statement upon request by a law enforcement officer to verify compliance with this section.

(1) Fails to meet the requirements found in subsection (a) or (b); or

(2) Receives an adverse adjudication for an offense governing the operation of a motor vehicle,

the license shall be suspended or revoked by a judge having jurisdiction over the person.

(d) If suspension or revocation of the license occurs under subsection (c), the person shall not be eligible to operate a motor vehicle on the highway through either reissuance of a license or issuance of a driver's license, until:

(1) The person is seventeen and one-half years of age;

(2) At least six months have elapsed since the date of the completion of the suspension of the license; or

(3) The date of reinstatement of the suspended or revoked license pursuant to court order or section 286-104."

SECTION 2. The amendments made by Act 175, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999, to section 286-108(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the requirement that the examiner of drivers require proof from every applicant under the age of eighteen that the applicant has completed a driver education program and a behind-the-wheel driver training course certified by the director of transportation, shall be suspended upon the effective date of this Act and reactivated on January 1, 2003.

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2002; provided that section 2 shall take effect upon approval.