Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 202 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require that all children between the ages of four and eight who weigh under eighty pounds be restrained in a child safety seat or a booster seat when traveling in a automobile.

Written testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the department of transportation, the department of health, the Honolulu and Maui county police departments, the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition, SAFE Community of Maui, Inc., Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, and a concerned parent. State Farm Insurance Company testified orally in support of this measure.

Your Committee finds that many children between the ages of four and eight lack the physical development necessary to receive adequate protection from a standard seat belt. These children should be placed either in a safety seat or a booster seat in order to be protected in the event of an accident.

Based on the oral testimony of the Maui county police department, your Committee amended this measure to provide an exception for children riding in automobiles equipped only with lap belts in the rear seat. Many older vehicles only have lap belts in the rear seat and lack the shoulder strap necessary to install a booster seat that can accommodate children up to eighty pounds.

Only children weighing sixty pounds and under need to be placed in a booster seat when traveling in such a vehicle. Based on testimony received at the hearing on this measure, your Committee finds that there are several models of booster seats available that are designed for children up to sixty pounds and that can be installed using only a lap belt.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 202, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 202, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.