Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B. No. 2441 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to limit the liability of the State and counties in highway cases in which the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident was travelling over the legal speed limit, or legally deemed under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The Department of Transportation, the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii, council members of the Maui County Council, and the Honolulu Police Department testified in support of this measure. The Hawaiian Electric Company, Hawaii Electric Light Company, Maui Electric Company, and Verizon Hawaii supported the intent of the measure. The Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii testified in opposition to this bill.

All too often, the importance of driver behavior in preventing traffic crashes has not been adequately recognized in the results of highway litigation cases. Your Committee feels that the State and counties should only have a duty to make highways reasonably safe for drivers who exercise reasonable care and should not be held liable for drivers who are involved in accidents because they were speeding or intoxicated.

However, your Committee understands that this bill places innocent passengers in the same category as the violating driver and bars these passengers from any type of civil recovery.

Moreover, based on the engineering relationship between the design and posted speed limits for a highway, your Committee feels that, with regards to speeding vehicles, the State owes a duty to make a highway reasonably safe for vehicles traveling in excess of the speed limit only if the speed is within 10 miles per hour of the speed limit or speed advisory.

Further, your Committee understands the concerns raised by the utility companies as to the liability they may face with regards to their facilities that may be placed on public rights of ways.

Accordingly, this bill has been amended by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2441, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2441, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.