STAND. COM. REP. 1182

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 295

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 295, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE TOWING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to better regulate the towing industry by:

(1) Authorizing the counties to enact ordinances to regulate towing operations; and

(2) Maintaining state regulation of the towing industry if county councils decline to regulate the towing industry.

The Hawaii State Towing Association and Hawaii Insurers Council testified in support of the intent of this measure. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Department of Customer Services of the City and County of Honolulu commented on this measure.

Currently, tow rates for nonconsensual tows are set forth by statute. Tows to assist motorists in distress, tows of stalled vehicles, recovery tows, and other consensual tows are not regulated and are considered negotiations between the consumer and the tow operator.

Your Committee understands there are concerns regarding the regulation of the tow industry and the fees that unscrupulous tow operators may charge and agree that increased regulation of fees may be necessary to protect the interests of the public. However, your Committee also feels that another way in which the safety of citizens can be protected from unlicensed or unscrupulous tow operators is through registration and insurance verification, which should be regulated by the counties.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its substance and replacing it with language that:

(1) Requires tow trucks to be registered as commercial tow trucks with the county director of finance;

(2) Requires the county director of finance to provide special license plates, decals, and registration cards to owners of vehicles registered as commercial tow trucks;

(3) Requires a registered commercial tow truck to display the special license plates, decals, and registration cards;

(4) Authorizes the director of finance to establish renewal and processing fees for the registration of a tow truck;

(5) Increases the fees charged for storage of a towed vehicle from $15 to $20 per day or fraction thereof for the first seven days and from $10 to $15 per day thereafter; and

(6) Requires the owner of a towed vehicle to be notified of the location of the towed vehicle within five working days following the tow.

Other technical, nonsubstantive amendments were made for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

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 S.B. No. 295, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 295, S.D. 1,

H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

 

____________________________

JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair